The Unusual Life of Lotus Yamaguchi
by nene9131
Summary: Lotus liked to think she was your average high school girl but when she meets one Saiki Kusuo her whole world turns upside down. Come read the unusual adventures of Lotus Yamaguchi as her life intertwines with one powerful psychic pink haired boy. I only own my OC's and non-canon situations.
1. Heart Pounding First Day

***Note -**

 _This is Lotus_

 _This is Saiki_

 _ **This is Saiki and Lotus**_

Hello, my name is Lotus Yamaguchi just a high school freshman. I've got long beautiful peach pink hair that reaches my lower back, soft porcelain skin, and a smile that can light up the darkest room. Well, at least that's what my sister says anyway. To me whenever I look in the mirror I just see your average girl. Although the one feature that I really like about myself is my eyes. They're pink, a different shade of pink than my hair more magenta like. I'd like to think this is my feature that really catches people attention but unfortunately no.

I'm 5'3" with a slim yet muscular build, pretty average for a girl my age who workouts but there are two things on my body that aren't average for someone my age and size. If you haven't guessed it already I'm talking about my chest. Once I hit puberty it's like mother nature shoved two volleyballs under my chest. I've reached a size E cup. To some girls, they see my dilemma as a blessing but it's really a curse.

Guys and men no matter the age perv on you no matter where you go. At school, on the train, at the store, I once even caught a guy rooting around in my sister's vegetable garden. Now I often hear things like 'Oh Lotus you must feel so blessed! So many guys wanna ask you out. You're so lucky.' WRONG! I do get asked out a lot but 98% of the guys are just pervy creeps after one thing. And it's not just men I have to deal with it's the girls too. It's hard to keep female friends when most of them throw jealous glares at you just for having a bigger chest. It doesn't help that I'm really into things guys like such as sports and manga. Other girls think I'm trying to steal all the guys for myself. Dating isn't even really on my mind, sure it'd be nice to meet a guy I really connect with but all I wanna do is just wanna play baseball and read the new issue of Manga.

Then there's the back pain. Just trying to sit up straight so I don't have a hunch in my back is a pain. For a girl such as myself who likes sports, it's hard finding a sports bra with any kind of support. Do you know how hard it is to find a supportive sports bra in my size, and even when I do they're so expensive!

I'm sorry I'm rambling, aren't I? About a problem that really doesn't have anything to do with the storyline.

Let me start over. My name is Lotus Yamaguchi. Your average high school sophomore who just moved to a new city with her older sister and her sister's new fiance. This story is about how my average life became not so average.

 **Heart-Pounding First Day - How Can He Talk But Not Move His Lips?!**

Lotus stepped out of her house her school bag slung over her shoulder.

 _"Okay, Lotus let's make this a good first day."_

With the small pep talk, Lotus made her way to school, she only turned a corner before she ran into an obstacle.

"Ooof!"

Lotus landed on her rear end her bag falling off her shoulder.

 _"What did I hit?"_

"Hey sorry bout that." A deep gruff voice said

 _"Oh, I ran into a person."_ Lotus looked up to apologize to the person, _"GAH! Whats with that scary face!"_

Before her was a tall man? He had a, dare she say it, butt-shaped chin, a scar over his eye, and a strange haircut.

The boy let out a laugh rubbing the back of his head. "Sorry for running into to you. I was looking for my buddy and didn't see you." He held out Lotus's bag. "Here's your bag."

Lotus let out a sigh of relief. _"Oh, so he only looks scary."_

Lotus stood up dusting her skirt off. "I'm sorry too. Thank you for getting my bag."

"Haha, no problem! Hey, that's my school uniform! I've never seen you before."

"Oh, I'm new!" Lotus gave a bow, "I'm Lotus."

"Nice to meetcha I'm Nendo!"

"Well, it was nice meeting-!"

"You should come walk with me and my best buddy to school!" Nendo said

"N-No that's fine-!"

Lotus was cut off when Nendo put his arm around her shoulder guiding her away.

"Let's go!"

 _"This is not how I foresaw my first day."_

* * *

Nendo never did find his so-called 'best buddy', so he and Lotus made their way to school on their own.

Lotus let out a sigh as she found a seat in her new classroom.

"Nendo's nice but so loud. He's someone you have to take breaks from often."

"Hey, new buddy!"

 _"GAAAH!"_

Lotus gave an internal shriek when Nendo's face appeared mere inches from hers.

 _"What the?! How did he just appear like that!? Doesn't he know his face is scary he can't just pop up like that without warning!"_

"Haha looks like my new buddy is in class with me. This is great!" Nendo said

 _"Greeeeat."_

"Haha, I can't wait for you to meet…."

Lotus just allowed Nendo to talk on nodding every once and awhile. _"There's no point in stopping him. Guys like that don't stop talking even if you tape their mouths shut."_ Lotus's attention drifted around the room studying the students around her. _"I wonder if everyone is as strange as Nendo? Nah this guy is in a league of his own."_

"Hey, Kaido come meet my new friend!"

 _"Kaido?"_

Nendo pulled up a white-haired boy. As soon as his eye met Lotus's he started freaking out shouting and pointing at Lotus.

"There's no way this girl is your friend!" Kaido yelled

"Of course she is," Nendo replied with a goofy smile.

"No way! I can't believe it! She's way too cute!" Kaido yelled

"Uhm thanks?" Lotus said

 _"Such a backhanded compliment, I kinda feel bad for Nendo."_

"Look at her sex appeal! It's through the roof! There's no way a girl like that can be befriended by you!" Kaido shouted

 _"...Eh? Did he just say sex appeal? I'm gonna end this before he starts talking about something more embarrassing."_

"I'm Lotus. Nice to meet you." Lotus greeted interrupting Kaido.

Kaido straightened up his cheeks going a little pink as he got a serious look on his face. "Let me introduce myself." Kaido held up his right arm. "I am the great defender Kaido!"

 _"Wait….is he serious?"_

"Also known as The Jet Black Wings!" Kaido exclaimed

 _"He seriously can't be serious?"_

"I fight to protect the world from the mysterious organization known as Dark Reunion. Who are trying to use my power to take over the world!" Kaido explained

 _"Oh my god he's seriously serious about this."_

 _"Pink?"_

Lotus heard a male's voice veering her attention away from Kaido's. She looked over at the classroom doors to see a pink haired boy wearing antenna-like hair clips.

 _"Pink hair!"_ Lotus thought

Now the pink hair wasn't what actually surprised Lotus, well it was but probably not for the reason you're thinking. With all the weird hair colors that Lotus saw she had never seen anyone else with pink hair like hers. Well, this boys hair wasn't the exact same shade of pink as hers. His hair was darker, actually it was the same color as her eyes, but still pink nonetheless. As strange as it might sound she always wanted to be friends with someone who had the same hair color as her.

 _"He must have been the one who said pink. He's probably never seen someone else with pink hair either."_

"Buddy!"

Nendo appeared before the boy blocking Lotus's view of the pink haired boy.

 _"Oh look Nendo found a new victim."_

 _"Great and my morning was so peaceful."_

Lotus heard the boy and by the sound of it, he sounded annoyed by Nendo's sheer presence.

"Come and meet my new buddy!" Nendo forced the pink boy over to Lotus's desk. "Lotus this my best buddy in the world Saiki! Saiki this is the new girl and my new buddy Lotus."

To Lotus, it looked like Saiki could care less.

 _"I would like to make friends and I've always wanted to make a friend who shared the same hair color as me so this is my chance."_

Lotus stood up from her desk and gave Saiki a bow. "Nice to meet you, Saiki. I'm Lotus. I hope we can become good friends."

 _"Yeah not gonna happen."_

 _"Eh!?"_

 _"Being friends with a cute girl like her would draw too much attention."_

 _"EEEH?! H-How the heck is he talking without moving his mouth!?"_

Lotus was trying to keep a straight face but she was freaking out on the inside. She could hear Saiki but his mouth wasn't moving.

"I can't wait for my buds to become buds. After school, we can all get ramen." Nendo said

 _"Why do you always have to drag me into everything you do?"_

 _"And Nendo doesn't even notice!"_

* * *

Lotus tried her best to pay attention in class but it was hard. All she could do was keep thinking about Saiki talking without moving his mouth.

Lotus kept staring at Saiki and that didn't go unnoticed by the pink haired boy.

 _"Why does she keep staring at me?"_

 _"GAAH! There it goes again! What's happening?! Am I going insane!? Is this like a party trick?! Is Saiki some kind of expert ventriloquist!? Wait no that's just a dumb thought. Am I like reading his mind or something?! Am I psychic?! No that's not possible?!"_

This went on for the rest of the class period.

 **Break time.**

Students were chatting and talking, most students anyway. Lotus was still trying to process Saiki.

 _"I'm getting so worked up over this. I think my head's gonna explode. I know! After school, I'll just directly ask Saiki himself. It's not the usual route I'd go but this isn't an unusual case."_

With that plan set in mind, Lotus calmed down just a bit just in time to hear her classmates talking about a deadly snake escaping from the local zoo.

"Did you hear a deadly snake escaped from the zoo." A boy spoke up.

"There's a poisonous snake on the loose?" A girl asked a tad worried.

 _"Oh_ greeeeat _. Just what I needed to hear. Well, at least snakes aren't too bad. Typically if you leave them alone they'll leave you alone. But still who would want to risk getting bitten by a poisonous reptile."_

"Are you boys sure it escaped?" A serious voice said

 _"Oh no…"_

Kaido walked up, "An animal attack is just the kind of plan they'd come up with."

 _"Please stop talking while you still can."_

"Fear not for I the Jet Black Wings can never be fooled by their deception. Someone must have set that snake free on purpose." Kaido said

 _"If you stop talking now you can still save some face."_

Another classmate stood up looking at Kaido. "Wait you know the guy who did this Kaido!?"

"Some wannabe supervillain called the Jet Black Wing?" Another boy said

 _"Just walk away Kaido."_

"No, I'm the Jet Black Wings, the hero. The villains are a secret organization called Dark Reunion. Releasing the snake is the first step in their evil plot to enslave mankind." Kaido said

"Dark Reunion?...Who?...Never heard of them." All the students sounded walking away from Kaido.

Everyone was quickly done with Kaido's story but he was not giving up that easy. He slid up behind Saiki.

"Once again the fate of the world has fallen into our superpower laps ey Saiki," Kaido said

 _"_ Wait _superpower?!"_

 _"Oh boy. He doesn't realize I actually do have superpowers."_

 _"_ Wait _what?!"_

Lotus heard Saiki loud and clear even if no one else did.

 _"Does he really have powers?! Is that why I can hear his thoughts. Even if he did have powers me being able to hear his thoughts doesn't make any sense!"_

"I don't like this one bit. The snake which I have named Murder-Dragoram-Snake is likely no ordinary snake." Kaido said

 _"That's quite the dramatic name."_

 _"Couldn't agree more."_

"It's also likely Dark Reunion genetically engineered Murder-Dragoram-Snake to specifically kill people," Kaido said

 _"He's fond of saying likely."_

 _"That he is…..great now I'm having an inner conversation sparked by Saiki's thoughts."_

"Were running out of time here Saiki. The world is counting on us to stop that snake-!"

"Hey, good news they caught the snake!" A boy said entering the classroom.

"Oh, that's relief where'd they find it?" A girl asked

"In front of the school. It was kind of lying on the ground half dead." He explained

Lotus could really see the shock on Kaido's face.

"Okay, why was it half dead?" Someone asked

"Some first graders had been whipping it around." The guy said

"That's one weak ass murder snake." Another guy spoke.

"Sounds like we beat Dark Reunion this time." A guy mocked

"Be careful what you say they're an all-powerful society." A girl chuckled

"Who knows what they'll do to you when they enslave mankind." A boy joked

"HAHAHAHAHAH!" Most of the students broke out into laughter.

Lotus could see Kaido's shoulders shaking as his classmates mocked him. To others, it might look like he was angry but….

"Hehe go ahead and laugh." Kaido headed for the doors. "This is the calm before the storm." Kaido's serious tone turned into whimpering, "Dark Reunion is coming. I-I tried to warn you all I swear."

 ** _"He's going to the bathroom to cry."_**

Lotus's mouth hung open. _"N-No way! Saiki and I had the same exact thought. What the heck is going on."_

Before Lotus could freakout completely something hit her, not physically but mentally. Like a warning sign had gone off in her head.

 _"I've never felt this feeling before."_

That's when Lotus saw Saiki abruptly stand up and walk out of the room right after Kaido.

 _"I better go with him."_

 _"What the? I've only known the guy for a few hours and even I know he's not the comforting other people type."_

"I can't believe he thinks he's a superhero. It's like he's in elementary school." A boy said

 _"Man these guys are harsh."_

"One time he said there was a monster in his arm." The boy who was making fun of Kaido grabbed his arm. "You guys it's starting to take over my whole body. Watch out." As he mocked Kaido his arm sleeve started to wiggle around.

"There's something in there!" A girl cried

"Huh?" The boy shook his sleeve and out fell-

"A Snake!"

"Ahhhhh!"

"It's blocking the door!"

Everyone had crawled onto their desk screaming and freaking out causing panic to ensue. Lotus just pulled her legs up and sat crisscross in her chair.

 _"I guess that's karma for picking on Kaido. But how did that guy not know there was a snake in his jacket?"_

 _"I saw that snake coming."_

 _"Great. Saiki's out of the room and yet I can still hear him, even over the loud cries of my classmates."_

 _"I could help them, but then I'd be outing myself. So I'll just stay here until things calm down. Speaking of calming down Kaido should stay in here for a while too."_

Lotus could easily imagine the crying Kaido hunched over in a bathroom stall sobbing into his hands.

"Did anyone see where it went!?"

"Somebody run out and get a teacher!"

"And risk being bitten! No way!"

 _"Don't they know the more they freak out the more agitated it's gonna get and the more likely it's gonna bite someone."_ Lotus looked at the snake and saw it hiss. _"Well….it's really pissed now."_

"What a bunch of dorks."

Everyone looked over to see Nendo leaning back in his chair.

"When did you get in here!?"

"Are your guy's balls still attached." Nendo joked

"Worry about yours!" A guy yelled

"Mine feel weird," Nendo said

"Well, obviously they do!"

Lotus deadpanned not sure if she was actually seeing what she was seeing. The snake had latched itself onto Nendo's crotch.

"The snakes on your crotch!" A guy squeaked out.

3...2...1

Nendo passed out standing up.

"Nendo!"

Everyone in the class freaked out more as Nendo fell back face blue drool pouring out his mouth.

 _"Snakes have strong jaws but I don't think it's strong enough to bite through pants."_

 _"It didn't bite through the fabric."_

 _"Well, Saiki confirmed it."_

The snake let go of Nendo and slithered its way towards the students.

"It's coming towards us!"

The students continued to scream as the reptile moved forward.

"Ah!, now it's going after the cute new busty girl!" A boy yelled pointing over at Lotus.

 _"Did he really have to describe me that way."_

Lotus looked down to see the snake was indeed heading her way.

 _"Better get on my desk. Maybe I can find a ruler or book to smack it with, too bad I left my baseball bat at home."_

"Fear not fair maiden!"

 _"Oh, no…."_

Kaido stood up getting in front of Lotus's desk putting himself between her and the snake.

"Kaido! What are you doing?!"

"All right Murder-Dragoram-Snake!"

"He's seriously sticking with that name."

"It's time you face me!" Kaido got into a martial arts stance, "The Jet Black Wings!"

"That's a real pose!"

"Let's get out of here while we still can!"

"Fake superhero vs. real snake!"

 _"This is getting out of hand."_

 _"Kaido may look confident but he has no clue what he's doing."_

The snake hissed and lunged heading right for Kaido. He kept a brave face on as the snake headed for his face.

"Alright snake take this! Judgment Light On!"

 _"Sorry, Kaido but I'll be taking care of this."_

Lighting struck the snake frying it to a crisp. Everyone in the class was stunned for a second before they started to cheer for Kaido, well everyone minus the passed out Nendo and the wide-eyed Lotus.

 _"W-Was that lighting? Did Saiki seriously do that?"_ Lotus looked at the stunned Kaido. _"And here I was starting to think Kaido was just a childish idiot but he's actually a brave guy._ "

* * *

" _I was wrong."_

An overconfident Kaido smirked at the teacher.

"I don't care for this new attitude of yours Kaido," Sensei said

"You better watch what you say Sensei. It's not a pleasant thing to be blasted by the Judgement Lights." Kaido said with a confident smirk.

"Alright go to the principal's office!"

 _"He's gotten even more immature. I take back everything I said."_

 _"Me too Saiki, me too."_

* * *

After classes ended Saiki made his way to his shoe locker.

 _"The sooner I switch out my shoes the sooner I can get home."_

As Saiki slipped on his street shoes a hand gripped his shoulder. "Saiki there's something really urgent that I need talk to you about."

 _"Can't I just go home."_

"Come with me right now!" Lotus did not give Saiki any chance and grabbed the boy's arm dragging him behind the school.

Lotus could hear Saiki let out a sigh in his mind. _"I could just teleport away but then that'll just look suspicious. Guess I have to hear what she has to say."_

Lotus dragged Saiki to a secluded area behind the school making sure no one was around.

"Saiki, there's something important I have to tell you." Lotus got a serious look on her face. "I know you're psychic."

 _". . . .What….did she just_ say _?"_

A/N - Lotus's character design is based on Momoi from Kuroko's Basketball. Also, I own nothing but Lotus.


	2. New Neighbors

**New Neighbors - It Must be Fate**

 _"...What did she just say?"_

"I know you're psychic."

 _"How did she?"_

Lotus let a little nervous chuckle as she poked her forefingers together, "Weeeelllll you kind of told me."

 _"Told her? I haven't spoken to her except for when Nendou introduced us. How could she have found out? I'm always so careful. One slip up from a new girl I talked to once and the whole school could find out about my powers. I could wipe her mind but I'd probably have to wipe the whole day and I've never done that before, it might leave her brain like a baked potato."_

"No not my brain!" Lotus cried holding her head.

 _"Calm down. It was just a passing thought-wait?...How could she have heard that? I'm not saying anything. I'm just thinking."_

"I don't know how I'm doing it! It just happened once I met you! I can't hear anyone else's thought but yours!" Lotus blurted out.

 _"She can hear my thoughts? Wait…"_ Saiki stared hard at Lotus making her nervous again. _"I can't believe I just realized it. The whole day I haven't been able to read her thoughts, even right now concentrating solely on her I can't read her mind. I'm so used to trying to drown out everyone else's thoughts that I didn't even notice hers weren't coming in! Maybe she's like Nendou."_

"Man comparing me to Nendou, that's just cruel Saiki."

 _"She's right comparing her to Nendou is a little too far-wait!? She did it again! How is she doing that! Could she also be psychic?"_

"No, I'm not psychic!" Lotus shouted

 _"If she's not psychic then how is she reading my mind?"_

"I don't know! You're the one with the powers. Please make it stop." Lotus pleaded

 _"I have no idea how to fix this."_

This caused Lotus to let out a sorrowful groan before sulking to the ground.

In the end, neither Lotus nor Saiki knew what was happening. Since it was already out in the open Saiki gave her a short rundown of his physic background.

"Ahh, I see. You must be unhappy a lot."

 _"Huh?"_

"Having psychic powers may seem fun but if you really think about it, they can seem like a burden. Always knowing what's going to happen. Never being surprised. Always having to hear others thoughts. It must be a heavy load to carry."

Saiki was surprised. _"Does she…?"_

"I can't even imagine what would happen if people found out about your powers. People always wanting something from you, not knowing who was your friend and who was just using you. From what you said you sound pretty powerful it must be hard trying to control your powers just doing simple stuff. You just wanna live a normal life like everyone else, so that's why you hide your powers right."

 _"It's kind of scary how right she is."_

What Lotus did next really surprised Saiki. She grasped one of his hands in between both of hers. A soft happy smile came upon her face, it looked like the background turned pink and bubbly.

 _"Whhhaat is going on?"_

"As your new acquaintance, I promise to keep your secret hidden and if you ever need anything you can come to me. I want to get to know the real Saiki not just because he has powers but because I'd like to be friends. I may not seem like not much and I'm far from perfect but I hope that someday you and I could become good friends." Lotus ended her declaration with a warm bright smile. It wasn't big or flashy but a small simple smile that held such warmth in it that it glowed brighter than the sun.

Saiki's his eyes were wide his mouth open and as he stared at Lotus. He could feel his heartbeat speed up. Then he was gone.

"Uh….? Saiki?" Lotus looked confused staring at the empty spot where Saiki once stood.

* * *

 _"That girl…."_

Saiki had teleported himself home. His thoughts drifted off thinking back to Lotus and the bizarre feeling he got when she smiled at him came back. It was weird to meet someone with clear intelligence whose mind Saiki couldn't read. It was weird for someone to fully understand Saiki's situation. It was weird that someone could read his mind. Lotus was weird, she now was on the very short list of things that shook Saiki's nerves.

 _"Its decided. I'm just gonna avoid her from now on until the end of time or at least until we graduate high school."_

"Oh, Kusuo honey your home how wonderful!" Kusuo's mother appeared in his doorway. "We have company over. We've got new neighbors. Come downstairs."

 _"Do I really have to?"_

* * *

Not being able to say no to his mother Saiki found himself downstairs looking at a rather tall purple haired young woman.

"Ku this is our new neighbor Violet. She just moved in across the street with her little sister and finance."

"Oh, my Mrs. Saiki this is your son?" Violet beamed

"Yes, that right! My Kusuo!" Mrs. Saiki said gushed

"He is adorable just like you said," Violet gushed back.

 _"What have you been telling her?"_

"Your little Kusuo is indeed cute!" Violet chatted

 _"Little Kusuo?"_

"But I know something that is even cuter," Violet exclaimed with a dramatic pose.

 _"What's with that pose? It's like she's in a manga or something."_

Violet reached into her pocket and pulled out a picture. "Behold the cutest thing that has ever walked this earth, my little sister." Violet gleamed brighter than the sun as she showed the picture to Saiki and his mother.

 _"Seriously."_

"Oh, my she is just beautiful." Kusuo's Mother complimented.

 _"Seriously? Why me?"_

Violet and Kusuo's Mother continued to chat as Saiki looked down at the picture Violet had pulled out. Familiar pink eyes sparkled brightly in the picture along with a glowing warm smile.

 _"It's gonna be hard to avoid her now."_

* * *

Lotus was busy finishing her housework. After getting home from school she found a note from her sister saying she was going to greet the neighbors. Lotus decided to take this time to unpack some boxes and tidy up the place. Lotus was currently wearing a frilly pink apron, courtesy of her sister, as she worked. She opened a box pulling out some books and putting them away.

All was calm and quiet that is until the front door burst open and a young man with two-toned hair flew in. "My lovely Violet! I have come home to be showered with your loving embrace!"

"She's not home yet," Lotus commented still stacking books.

The man fell to the floor sliding on his face.

"Get off the floor Ethan it's not clean."

Ethan got on his hands and knees tears falling down his cheeks. "How cruel this world is separating me from my lovely Violet."

Lotus let out a sigh patting the man's back," She's just meeting the new neighbors. Stop being so melodramatic. Now get off of the floor I haven't swept it yet."

Ethan let out a small sniffle looking up at Lotus. "Oh Lotus….the world can't be so cruel-" Then he launched himself at Lotus "-if I've got my little Lotus with me!"

Lotus ducked out the way and Ethan slammed face first into the wall.

"How is it you have a sister complex and were not even related." Lotus deadpanned

This man is Ethan Campbell, he's from Scotland. He's got two-toned hair, the top being red and the undercut being orange sort of like a sunset. He's also got nice hazel eyes. Ethan is my sister's fiancee. They met eight years ago when my sister was studying abroad. They plan on getting married once my sister finishes all of her schooling. As you can tell Ethan's a little over the top….what am I saying he's as loud as his hair. My sister and Ethan are great together and share a lot of the same interest, that also includes their sister complex. Before I even met the guy he developed a little sister complex courtesy of my sister gushing about me being her perfect little angel of a sister. He made our first meeting really weird. He called me the little wish he'd always wanted granted. At first I thought he was a perv, but I discovered he just meant that he always wanted a little sister of his own. He should really learn to word his sentences better.

"Lotus! The love of a family doesn't stop with blood. I see you as my adorable little sister and I will protect you just like I do my lovely Violet!" Ethan proclaimed

 _"Grrreaat…."_

"Knock knock. I'm home."

"Violet!"

Ethan rushed to the front door and picked Violet up in his arms lifting the woman up and spinning her around. "My darling Violet! You've finally returned to me! I missed you so much!"

Violet giggled into her hand, "I was only gone for a few hours."

"Yes but every second away from you is like an eternity," Ethan responded

 _"How cheesy."_

Lotus watched Ethan shower Violet with love.

 _"It's almost sickening how lovely_ dovey _he is, but he's a nice guy always wearing his heart on his sleeve. And he treats my sister nice and makes her happy."_

"What a joyous day this is. I have my loving Violet once again with me and my adorable little Lotus too."

"Lotus is home."

 _"Oh no."_

In an instant Lotus was sandwiched between her sister and Ethan. The two younger adults rubbed their cheeks on top of Lotus's soft pink hair.

"My cute delightful little Lotus, I missed you! How was your first day of school? Did you make lots of new friends?" Violet cooed

"Of course she made friends! You'd have to be a brain dead idiot for not wanting to befriend our lovely little Lotus." Ethan stated

 _"You two act like I'm your love child or something."_

"Your right Ethan! There's no one cuter than our little Lotus." Violet squealed

"I hope that one day when we have our own little ones there as splendid and sweet as our little Lotus!" Ethan exclaimed

Violet gazed up at the ceiling as if she was staring up at the heavens. "To have our child take after our little Lotus. That would truly be a blessing from the heavens. I shall pray for it every night."

"Me too love!" Ethan chorused

 _"Now this is just getting creepy."_

"Isn't it about time for dinner," Lotus interrupted

"Lotus is right," Violet said

"What should we have? All of the kitchenware is still packed. I could call for take out." Ethan said

"There's no need for that." Lotus walked over to the dining room doors. "I unpacked and cooked dinner." She opens the doors revealing a delicious spread. Various vegetable and rice dishes along with a hot pot. "Think of it as a celebrity moving in dinner. Its also a thank you dinner for all that you've two have done for me. I'm truly grateful for you guys allowing me to live with you. Thank you, Violet. Thank you, Ethan."

By the time Lotus was finished talking Violet and Ethan were in tears.

"Oh, Lotus!"

The two cried grabbing the girl bringing her back into a bone-crushing hug.

"How blessed we are to have you!"

"Our little Lotus is truly an angel!"

 _"Will you two calm down. Dinner's getting cold."_

* * *

Ethan, Lotus, and Violet were sitting around the table eating the delicious meal Lotus had prepared.

"How were the neighbors?" Ethan asked

"They were wonderful. It's a lovely family of three. I wasn't able to meet the father but I did meet the mother and son. Their son was a cutie, but not as cute as my lovely little Lotus. Maybe they'll become friends." Violet said

Ethan was looking down at his plate his bangs casting a shadow over his eyes, "A boy you say…."

 _"Oh boy…"_

"No boy is getting near our little Lotus! Boys are nothing but monsters that just want to steal away our Lotus!" Ethan ranted

 _"You're being overdramatic again."_

Violet just smiled, "I don't think this boy seemed like that type. He seemed very nice."

 _"At least Violet can stay rational."_

That's when Violet's smile warped into a sinister grin. "And even if he did try anything with my precious little sister I'll gladly rearrange his organs for him."

 _"Spoke too soon."_

"But Mrs. Saiki was so nice and smart I'm sure she raised a respectful son," Violet said switching back to her normal self.

Hearing the name Saiki, Lotus paused mid-chew.

 _"Did she just say, Saiki?!"_

"Violet, did you just say Saiki?" Lotus asked

Violet nodded her head. "Yes. Why?"

"Mrs. Saiki's son? Does he have pink hair and wear these little pink hair ornaments that look like antenna? With this impassive look on his face?" Lotus questioned

"That's him exactly!" Violet confirmed

 _"No way!"_

"Excuse me!" Lotus quickly stood up from the table and ran out the room.

"Huh? Where is she going?" Ethan questioned

"Well, Lotus has always wanted a pink haired friend. Maybe she's going over to the neighbor's house to see the boy." Violet explained

"WHAT!?" Ethan jumped up knocking his food over. "Lotus doesn't need any friends who are boys! She's too innocent for that!"

"She is in high school. Boys are always going to be around her and little Lotus is so cute she attracts so much attention. I wouldn't be surprised if she already has a fan club starting up." The more Violet talked the more depressed Ethan got. "Who knows she might even find a boyfriend soon."

"NOOOOOO!" Ethan was screaming holding his ears. "I don't wanna hear anymore! Violet, how can you talk so calmly about this!"

"Oh, that's simple." A dark aura appeared around Violet, "If a single boy even thinks an indecent thought about my little Lotus I'll disembowel them and send their souls to burn in the core of the earth."

"Violet….I love you."

* * *

Lotus peeked out her front window, the pink haired girl was crouched behind the window peeping through the small opening of the curtains. She tried to squint and see the last name written on the mailbox across the street but she couldn't read anything from the distance she was at.

"If I really wanna confirm this I need to go outside. Saiki seemed like he wanted to be alone and I kinda feel weird hearing all his thoughts. I'll just run outside and take a quick look at the mailbox. I mean what are the odds that I'll actually run into Saiki if it is his house."

Lotus made her way to the front door and looked around. When the coast was clear she quickly sped walked over to the house across the street her sights set on the mailbox.

Lotus was doing fine until her foot touched the sidewalk.

 _"Your an idiot."_

"Saiki!"

Lotus jumped startled and she nearly broke her neck with how fast she whipped it around looking for the pink haired psychic. Yet she saw no one around her.

 _"Now I know I heard him."_

 _"Move it yourself."_

Lotus quickly whipped her head to the house she was standing before. If she was hearing Saiki….

Lotus took a few steps back stepping off the sidewalk. She stood there for a minute or two and not once did she hear Saiki's thoughts. She then took a step back onto the sidewalk.

 _"I don't care."_

There was Saiki's voice. Lotus stepped on and off of the sidewalk multiple times. Every time she stepped on she could hear Saiki, but when she stepped off she could no longer hear him.

 _"Soooooo….this is defiantly Saiki's house and it seems like if I come in within a certain distance I can hear his thoughts. How….wonderful."_


	3. How Did This Happen!

***Note -**

 _This is Lotus_

 _This is Saiki_

 _ **This is Saiki and Lotus**_

 **How Did This Happen?! - An Interesting Shopping Trip**

 _"_ _This was not how I saw my day going."_

Lotus here right now I'm standing on top of a tall building my legs shaking as I tried not to look down. How did I end up here you ask? Well, it all started this morning when I woke up.

* * *

Lotus let out a yawn as she woke up. After the day she had yesterday a nice good night's sleep was something she really needed. She sat up in her bed stretching and rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

"Today's gonna be…." Lotus's voice trailed off as a lamp floated by her. "Eh."

A notebook then hoovered next to her. "Eh."

Lotus's tired eyes slowly grew big as she saw various objects floating around her room.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Lotus screamed as everything in her room that was floating dropped out of the air. Lotus's chest heaved as she tried to process what just happened.

 _ ***BAM***_

"AH!"

Lotus screams again as her bedroom door was kicked open.

"I'm coming to rescue you Lotus-!" Ethan came running into her room swinging a baseball bat that had "Pervert Pulverizer" painted on the side. "Don't worry I'll-Gah!"

Lotus sweat dropped as she saw Ethan slip on a cup and land face first on her bedroom floor.

Then Violet came running into the room waving around her weapon. "Lotus we heard you scream! Is a pervert trying to taint your innocence!"

"Is that a machete?!" Lotus yelled

Violet simply looked down at her weapon. "Of course it is." She confirmed with a cheerful smile. "It's to teach perverts a lesson. The subject today is math and the lesson is if 1 pervert touches 1 Lotus how many limbs will he have left if you add in the variable of 1 Violet."

Ethan peeled his face off the floor then was quickly on his knees kneeling before Violet. "Violet my lovely goddess. Seeing you like this, willing to protect Lotus makes my heart explode."

 _"_ _Get out my room!"_

* * *

"Let's see." Lotus looked down at her shopping list. "Next for the care package is coffee pudding. Oh yeah, Ethan's brothers love this stuff."

Lotus walked down the aisles locating the coffee based snack. There were only a few containers left, so she decided to just grab all of them. When she was reaching for the last one another hand came in contact with hers.

"I'm sorry I-Saiki!?"

The pink haired boy kept a blank face staring at Lotus.

 _"_ _Her hand…."_

Lotus looked down at her hand to see it was still on top of Saiki's.

"My bad!" She yelped pulling her hand away. "Hehehe…."

 _"_ _Is she taking all the coffee pudding?"_

"Huh?" Hearing Saiki's thoughts Lotus jumped. Suddenly her head was filled with visions of Saiki and coffee pudding. He seemed to really enjoy the stuff. It was strange seeing such a stoic boy so content with just a dessert.

"Oh, so you love coffee pudding, Saiki?" Lotus asked

Saiki stared at the girl trying to keep his mind blank as to not project his thoughts to Lotus. He nonchalantly nodded his head.

 _"_ _I love it."_

 _"_ _I heard that. He's trying to act like it's not a big deal, but he loves this stuff, I can feel it. I can give it all to him but I also need to talk to him about some things."_

"Ya know my brother-in-law sent me out to the store to get some things and coffee pudding was on the list. I was just gonna buy them all since there was so few left…" Lotus had to hold in her smirk sensing Saiki was not happy about that. "Buuuuuut I could always tell him the store was out and allow someone else to buy said coffee pudding."

 _"_ _Is she…?"_

Lotus smiled as she held up her basket of coffee pudding to Saiki. "But I need something to replace the coffee pudding. How about you join on my shopping trip, so I can find some ingredients for a new dessert? After that, I'll give you all the coffee pudding. How about it Saiki?"

Saiki stared at the girl, her smile still as bright as ever. _"She_ _ **is**_ _smarter than I thought."_ He nodded his head to Lotus. _"You win."_

"Great! Let's get shopping!"

* * *

Saiki was reluctant to go on this shopping journey with Lotus, but he was getting coffee pudding out of it.

Lotus was currently looking at some food, "Soooo Saiki, I've got a little problem, that I think that only you can help with."

 _"_ _I'm not helping you."_ Saiki said thinking Lotus wanted some help that involved him using his psychic powers.

"Mean!" Lotus responded. "Your the only one who can help me. Listen…" Lotus looked left and right before sliding in close to Saiki to whisper in his ear.

 _"_ _What are you doing?"_

"This morning I when I woke up and nearly everything in my bedroom was floating around," Lotus whispered

 _"_ _It was what?"_

Lotus pulled away from Saiki. "Yeah, it really startled me! I have no idea what's going on, but I was thinking that since you can handle what's going with your "thing" you could possibly help me. You know like a tutor."

Lotus didn't need to hear Saiki's thoughts to know he did not want to do so. She let out a sigh.

Saiki was really expecting Lotus to do more to get him to agree. Beg, plead, threaten to tell his secret, even bribe him, but he really didn't expect the next words out of her mouth.

"Okay, Saiki. I understand if you don't want to help me, I'm not gonna make you. But if I never asked I wouldn't have known. This is my problem, so I can figure it out on my own. You didn't have anyone teach you so that means I can teach myself how to control "it" too." She gave Saiki a smile to let him know it was okay.

Saiki looked at Lotus's smile, and he really couldn't believe this girl. How could someone be so….

 **Saiki's likeability meter for Lotus has shot up but since his psychic powers don't seem to work on Lotus he himself didn't even realize it.**

"Well then, I've got everything on my list to let's go check out. I still owe you some coffee pudding." Lotus smiled as she walked to the front of the store followed by Saiki who, for some reason, no longer minded being a part of this shopping excursion.

* * *

"Okay, Saiki here's your pudding just like I promised." Lotus smiled as she held out a plastic bag to Saiki.

Saiki stared at the bag and Lotus can feel the confusion rolling off the boy.

"What?" Lotus questioned when Saiki didn't take the bag.

 _"_ _You paid for it."_

"Yeah I did, but I promised you could have it. Think of it as a gift." Lotus smiled

Saiki stared at the pinkettes smile, and he got that weird feeling again.

 _"_ _Thanks."_

"I hope you have a good day Saiki and thank you for joining me on my shopping trip. Even though I kind of held your pudding hostage." Lotus giggled and gave Saiki another smile.

The strange feeling got stronger the more Saiki stared at Lotus. He quickly took the grocery bag form Lotus gave her a goodbye bow then sped off down the street.

 _"_ _Well, at least this time he didn't vanish completely from my sight. That must mean he's more comfortable around me, which means the path to friendship is being paved."_ Lotus congratulated herself on a job well done towards her goal of being Saiki's friend.

Lotus shifted the bags in her arms and she notices one of her bags was lighter than it was supposed to be. She opened the bag peering inside.

 _"_ _Oh, pudding...I must have accidentally given him the wrong bag."_

She looked into the crowd of moving heads, and she easily spotted the pink hair quickly weaving through the crowd.

 _"_ _If I hurry I can catch up to him."_

* * *

Saiki was doing his best to avoid Teruhashi, but that girl was persistent. What was worse he spotted Nendo in the crowd. So far he was doing good disappearing into the crowd unbeknownst to him a second head of pink hair joined the search for him. He was doing his best to both avoid Nendo and Teruhashi, that is until a hand landed on his shoulder.

Lotus smiled as she put a hand on Saiki's shoulder. "Saiki! Hey-!"

* * *

Nendo looked around the crowd confused. "Huh? I could swear I just saw my best friend and new friend."

Teruhashi was confused as she searched the crowd. "Oh no, where did Saiki go? What's going on?"

 _"_ _Looks like I teleported."_

* * *

And that's how I ended up on the roof a very tall building clinging to Saiki's arm.

Saiki stared down at the city watching Teruhashi shout for him. It seemed everything thing was working out well, the girl believing that he was a figment of her imagination. That seemed to backfire on him as Teruhashi believed since he was an illusion she developed feelings for him.

"Uh….Saiki…."

Saiki's eyes were wide as he looked next to him seeing a weak-kneed Lotus who was clutching his arm. His bare arm. He hadn't even noticed he had brought her with him. But here she was clutching onto his exposed arm.

Saiki always had a hard time with physical contact because of his psychic powers. Due to his psychometry whenever he touched someone or something he's always instantly filled with visions and information from that person or object. That's why he always wore a pair of thin gloves and never tried to touch anything with his bare skin. But right now here he was, with Lotus, her skin touching his skin, and he wasn't getting any information. Lotus's hands were warm and soft as they held onto Saiki's arm.

This was definitely a sensation Saiki wasn't used to. The person he ever had the most physical contact with was his mother and due to his psychometry, he still kept that limited.

"Were up so high...wait! Saiki is this how you disappeared on me?!" Lotus asked Saiki.

 _"_ _Yeah."_

"Hmm? And here I thought you just turned invisible and slipped away." Lotus mumbled

 _"_ _I can turn invisible too."_

"That's interesting, but uhm…." Lotus looked up a Saiki a nervous smile on her face. "Can we go now? I don't do very well with heights when I don't have the proper safety equipment."

* * *

Lotus let out a sigh of relief placing a hand over her heart.

"Thanks for getting us home Saiki."

 _"_ _Why were you chasing after me?"_

"Oh!" Lotus held up her bag. "We accidentally switched bags at the store and I wanted to make sure you got the right one."

 _"_ _Oh….thank you."_

Saiki went to exchange bags with Lotus when the front door to her house slammed open, causing Lotus to scream and jump.

"Little Lotus!" Violet saw that her sister wasn't alone. "And she's with little Ku!"

 _"_ _Little Ku?"_

Violet got a happy look on her face covering her mouth. "Could it be, little Ku rescued my darling little Lotus from the leecher's that lurk in the city. And being the chivalrous young man he is he walked Lotus home to make sure she got here safe."

 _"_ _She's got a crazy imagination."_

 _"_ _Yup."_

Saiki looked a little surprised looking over at Lotus. He actually heard that.

"In order to thank little Ku, he's gotta stay for tea and a snack!" Violet declared

"Violet I think Saiki wants to go home," Lotus said

"Nonsense!" Violet grabbed Saiki and dragged him into the house.

"Oh, this is gonna be long." Lotus shuffled in after her sister, hoping she won't cause Saiki too much trouble.

* * *

"I'm so sorry." Lotus apologized to Saiki.

 _"_ _Your sister's forcible hospitality is unsettling."_

"I know," Lotus replied

Lotus and Saiki were now in the family room sitting around a table waiting for Violet to bring in some tea.

"I promise once she gives out the tea I'll make a distraction so you can leave," Lotus promised

"Okay! Tea's ready!" Violet's voice sung out. Violet practically skipped into the room carrying a tray with cups and a pot of fresh hot tea.

As she came into the room she tripped over her own two feet falling forward.

"Gah!" Lotus yelped reaching out for her falling sister.

Violet's body never hit the ground nor did the contents of the tray that she was holding.

"Oh, my."

Lotus gawked at the sight before her. Her sister was floating in the air along with the tea set. Lotus slowly turned her head to the only boy in the room.

"Saiki…."

 _"_ _I'm not doing that."_

"If you're not doing that, then that means."

Lotus looks back at her sister. Violet slowly floated right back up and the tea set flew back in her hands and the tea even went back into the pot.

"Well, that was interesting." Violet just smiled as she set the tea on the table and poured a cup for everyone.

"Violet...aren't you a little...I don't know confused about what just happened?" Lotus asked

Violet looked up from her cup of tea and quirked an eyebrow. "No. Why do you ask?"

"You just floated in the air! That's not a normal thing you see!" Lotus yelled

"What do mean? I just assumed you did it." Violet said

"Why would you assume that?!" Lotus yelled

"You didn't do it?" Violet asked confused

"No! I mean yes I did do it! But why are you acting so calm about it!?" Lotus shouted

"Oh, because of your supernatural copy ability of course." Violet nonchalantly stated

 _ **. . . . WHAT!**_


	4. Lotus's Incredible Power

**Lotus's Incredible Power - Sister Says What?!**

"Oh, that must be because of Lotus's supernatural copycat powers," Violet said

 _"Her what?"_

 _"My what?"_

Violet saw the confused and surprised face of her sister and tilted her head. "Huh? You didn't know?"

"Does this surprised face look like I knew?!" Lotus yelled pointing at her confused expression.

"I guess not." Violet hummed, "Remember Aikido Sugito?" She brought up.

Lotus frowned hearing that name. "How could I forget a jerk like him."

Violet smiled, "Remember how you judo flipped him knocking him out."

 _"She did what?"_

"He had it coming. He was picking on everyone and made fun of you." Lotus claimed

"Oh, Lotus…." Violet leaped across the table bringing Lotus into a smothering hug. "Even as a child, you were amazing sticking up for your friends and big sis! I love you so much my little flower!"

 _"Something tells me that this happens often."_

"Violet enough." Lotus pried her sister off her. "Tell me what you mean by supernatural copycat powers."

"Well in the case of how you took down that bully. Remember how you said you learned that Judo move the night before after watching a movie?" Lotus nodded her head at Violet's words. "Lotus you have the ability to absorb and copy things people can do. You've been doing it since you were a baby. How do you think you were able to talk and walk so early. Or how you're able to solve any math equation after watching someone do it. Or how you were able to learn different languages so quickly. Mom said it-"

"Wait Mom knows about this!?" Lotus blurted

Violet nodded her head. "Yes. So does Dad and Ethan."

"Am I the only in the family who didn't know!?" Lotus exclaimed

"We all thought you did. That's why you kept copying things. I guess it seems that you copy things unconsciously. Essentially you can absorb any feat that a human can do."

Lotus put her hands on the table looking depressed as a dark cloud of despair hung over her. Violet and Saiki were taken aback by her sudden gloom.

"So I'm just like some leech that sucks up other people's talent."

Violet gave a small smile patting her sisters back. "Now now Lotus it's not like-"

"Yes, it is!" Lotus slammed her hands on the table. "There's nothing more that I hate than a cheat! And that's what I am! While everyone else struggles through life working hard to get what they want I just breeze through it all because of some strange power. I'm basically stealing everything that makes other people special!"

Saiki sat silently observing. Some people would be overjoyed by the revelation. With Lotus's ability she could essentially do whatever she wanted, achieve any goal but instead, she'd rather use her own talents to achieve success.

 **Saiki's likeability meter for Lotus has gone up.**

"Lotus what I mean is you do work hard," Violet said

"Huh?"

"Well even though you copy things you still to have to put in the proper effort to work with them. For example, remember in middle school when you were playing baseball. You knew all the fundamentals to hitting a home run but you lacked the proper amount of physical strength to actually hit one. So you worked out constantly to build up the proper amount of muscle and by the end of your first year, you could hit home runs like no other. You still work hard, harder than anyone I know. You're also the kindest person I know. When you were able to get through your studies so easily you spent nearly every day after school tutoring any classmate who asked. If anyone was meant to have this gift it was you Lotus."

Lotus's eyes watered at her sisters supporting and helpful words. "Thanks, Violet. I promise I'll continue to work hard."

Violet smiled and glomped her sister.

* * *

After some time of being hugged to death by her sister, Lotus was finally able to get away and walked Saiki to the front door.

"I'm sorry about my sister and for absorbing your powers." Lotus apologized

 _"I'll tutor you."_

Shock appeared on Lotus's face.

"What?!"

 _"I'll tutor you."_

Lotus's surprised face quickly morphed into a large smile. "Really?"

Saiki nodded his head. _"Only if you follow my rules."_

"Of course whatever you say." Lotus gave Saiki a happy bow. "Thank you very much, I'm in your care."


	5. Hot-Blooded Dodgeball

_This is Saiki_

 _This is Lotus_

 **Hot-Blooded Dodgeball!**

Lotus made her way to school various thoughts going through her head. To be more specific the events that occurred over the weekend. She was really grateful for Saiki in agreeing to "tutor" her. They already had their first lesson where Saiki went over the basic psychic powers.

Lotus was a little worried though. Saiki had an array of powers and just being near him meant she was going to be learning all of them. But Lotus promised she was going to work hard to keep her new powers in check and keep Saiki's secret. Plus she still had her own goal of making the pink-haired teen boy her friend.

* * *

Physical Education Saiki's least favorite class. He was a decent athlete but if you factor in those psychic abilities, Saiki's an unstoppable machine. A simple task like tossing a ball can cause a severe amount of destruction.

Saiki casually tossed a ball into the ball bin and the thing was crushed.

"What was that crazy loud sound just now?!"

"Was it a meteor?!"

Coach Matsuzaki got all the boys gathered around. "Okay, guys! For today's PE class, we'll be playing dodgeball."

Murmurs and complaints went off amongst the boys.

"Hey! Don't complain!"

A redhead with sharp eyebrows and sports tape over his nose popped up with a determined look.

"Let's give everything we've got! Who cares if it seems childish!" The boy started running back and forth getting more pumped up as he continued to shout. "Let's relive our youthful days! Now lets play till we're dripping with sweat!"

Some of the boys seemed a little apprehensive as they soaked in the loud boy's words.

"Well, seems Hairo really wants to so right?"

"Guess this means we've gotta get serious."

"Just hold on a second," A boy called out getting everyone's attention. He pointed to his left, "Not that I'm complaining but….what's she doing here?"

Everyone looked to where he was pointing to see Lotus in her gym uniform. Which consisted of a white shirt with red piping along with red gym bloomers.

"Hello." She smiled and waved.

The boys all looked shocked seeing the relatively new girl present in the boy's gym class. Many starred and blushed enjoying the view her gym uniform provided.

"What are you doing here?!" Coach Matsuzaki shouted

 _"That's what I'd like to know too."_

"Oh. There was a mix up with my transcript papers and I got put in the boy's gym class. Its okay because I really love sports." Lotus got an excited look with a fire in her eyes. "So what are we gonna play volleyball? Basketball?! Soccer?! BASEBALL?!"

 _"She really loves sports."_

 _"Yes, I do!"_

"So you like sports new buddy?" Nendou asked

"I love sports! Just thinking about it gets me all fired up!" Lotus had a happy smile as her face lit up red from the sheer excitement she was feeling.

 _"You're going to overheat."_

"Hahaha!" Hairo appeared next to Lotus laughing. "I love that hot-blooded fired up spirit! You gotta be on my team! Were playing dodgeball!"

"All right! Let's play!"

* * *

Lotus along with Saiki were on the Paper Team, being led by Hairo. The other team, Team Rock, had Kaido plus Nendou on it.

With the teams decided it was time to start.

Coach Matsuzaki held the ball standing in the middle of the outside court.

"We'll start the match with a jump ball."

Matsuzaki tossed the ball in the air and Hairo jumped high grabbing the ball with an animalistic war cry.

He tossed the ball as hard as possible beaming someone in the chest.

"All right!"

"We got one player out!"

Everyone on Team Paper minus, Saiki, started cheering.

 _"Is getting a single player out that exciting."_

Saiki looked over at Hairo who was dripping with sweat.

 _"And what's with all that sweat already? The match just started."_

A boy from Tema Rock grabbed the ball.

"We get the ball now." He looked over at Saiki. "Okay, Saiki. We'll get you out first!"

The boy tossed the ball with full force at Saiki's face. It hit him dead on, smack dab in the middle of his face.

Everyone minus Lotus winced as the ball smashed his face.

"Dude are you okay?" A teammate asked

 _"Saiki, at least pretend that hurt."_

 _"At least that takes me out. The more time I spend on the bench the better."_

Saiki went to walk off the field.

"Hold on, Saiki!" Saiki turned around facing Hairo. "Were you really trying to catch the ball?"

 _"I guess I made it too obvious."_

 _"Ya think?"_

Saiki nodded to Hairo.

"Really? Well, no matter." Saiki went to walk away again but Hairo stopped him. "Where you going? You're not out. The face safe rule keeps you alive."

 _"There's a rule like that?"_

 _"Yup. That there is. Also because of that rule…."_

Saiki was put in front with the ball.

 _"...you gotta throw first."_

 _"Just great. This bites."_

"Saiki! Throw it like you really mean it!" Hairo shouted

Lotus looked at Saiki. _"Yeah, that's a terrible idea."_

 _"She's right. If I threw it like I really mean it-"_

 _"-Someone would die!"_

 _"Forget the face safe rule they won't have a face anymore. Well, I suppose I can throw a weak ball. But just in case I'll aim for Nendou!"_

Saiki tossed the ball and everyone watched. Lotus clenched her fist wondering what the outcome could be. Well, at least Nendou seemed more durable than the average person.

Lotus didn't have anything to worry about as the ball easily landed in Nendou's hands.

 _"Too weak maybe?"_

"What the heck was that?! This is a serious match! Put your heart into it!" Hairo shouted

 _"Fine, I get it, don't get so worked up."_

"Pal, did you go easy on me because we're friends?" Nendou questioned

"Did you go easy on him because he's your friend!?" Hairo shouted

 _"Obviously that's not true."_

 _"He's super crazy fired up. It's almost scary."_

 _"Get_ use _to it. He's like that every day."_

 _"Wait a second I just thought of something. If you have to control your psychic powers to not crush people while playing sports does that mean I have to do the same thing?!"_

 _"Wait you're just realizing that."_

 _"I was blinded by the excitement of playing sports don't be mean!"_

Now you may be thinking why are Lotus and Saiki having a conversation via telepathy. Well, there were two reasons. The first reason being Saiki was using this as a way to help train Lotus in using her telepathy, so she wouldn't accidentally send her own thoughts into someone else's head.

The second reason being that this was the only way Saiki was willing to communicate, he especially didn't wanna be seen talking to Lotus. The girl was quickly rising in popularity, even though she didn't even know it herself.

 _"Just try to avoid playing as much as possible."_

Lotus was now crouching on the ground sulking drawing circles in the dirt.

 _"Are you really that sad about not being able to play?"_

Lotus didn't answer and just drew more patterns in the dirt.

Saiki gave a mental sigh.

 _"It's just for today. I'll teach you how to control your powers so you can play from now on."_

 _"Yay!"_ Lotus was back and up on her feet a happy smile on her face.

 _"Just watch yourself for today."_

 _"Can do!"_

* * *

The game started up again and it was Nendou's ball.

"All right! They don't call me 'Nen the Dodgeballer' for a reason!" Nendou declared

 _"There's no way anyone-!"_

Lotus's thoughts were silenced when Nendou threw the ball and was able to take out six players with the one shot.

 _"Holy crap! Is this the same Nendou?!"_

"There are only three players left on the Paper Team!"

That's right the only people left standing on the Paper Team was one overzealous loud fire-haired boy, an over-powerful destructive psychic who can destroy anything with a single thought, and a girl with the ability to copy people whose just learning to control the powers of the other psychic.

 _"So what do we do now?"_

 _"Nothing absolutely nothing."_

"I'll leave my pals for last," Nendou said

 _"That look_ Nendou's _sporting is unsettling."_

Nendou lifted up the dodgeball pointing it at Hairo. "Your next captain! Here I come! Dodgeball!"

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHH! I'm gonna catch it! For my team, especially my friends who sacrificed themselves!" Hairo planted his feet holding his arms up prepared to take the full force of the ball. "I'm gonna catch it even if it kills me!"

Hairo didn't get the chance to catch the ball as a body appeared before him. All the boys were surprised to see Saiki had slid in front of Hairo, getting hit with the ball. Although to Saiki with his powers he didn't really feel anything.

"S-Saiki?!"

 _"Sorry, but I'm going to the outfield before you. I'm sorry that I couldn't play seriously, Hairo. I have my reason."_

Lotus just stood still watching the ball fly up into the air. In reality, she would have ran after it and caught the ball, but Saiki told her not do anything, so that's what she was going to do. Nothing.

"Don't give up!"

Lotus jumped when Hairo shouted.

Hairo jumped and did a faceplant slide catching the ball crashing into the metal ball pen.

Lotus squealed covering her eyes seeing how Hairo had landed, his shorts having slid down showing off his rear end.

"Whoa! Look!"

"He caught it!"

"He saved Saiki!"

Saiki's eyes had gone blank, upset that his plan had been foiled.

 _"You have gotta to be kidding me."_

 _"Sorry. Guess your still in."_

"Ah! Hairo's injured!" A boy yelled pointing at Hairo's scraped knee.

 _"Can someone tell him to pull his pants up."_

"That means Saiki and Lotus-chan are the only ones left!"

 _"At least they're using my name now-wait chan?!"_

 _"You have got to be kidding me."_

Hairo shakily held up the dirtied ball to Saiki and Lotus. "Looks like this is it for me."

 _"Don't **you** give up."_

"I give this ball to you. Stop holding back. Let loose! I wanna see all you've got!"

Hairo coughed and blood poured out his mouth.

 _"You do realize you just scraped your knee, right?"_

"Please, Saiki, Lotus. All our hopes rest with you now." Hairo said

Lotus sweat dropped when she saw the rest of her teammates crying. The other boys started cheering for Saiki and Lotus to do their best and win.

 _YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!_

* * *

 _"What I hate is being the center of attention. And yet right now the entire class is focused on me."_ Saiki looked to his left where Lotus was standing. _"It doesn't help that she's standing next to me."_

 _"Sorry?"_ Lotus said

 _"You attract too much attention on your own, and now since were the only two left on our team...that just doubles the amount of attention focused on me right now."_

 _"Saiki, if you're worried about attention being on you how about you let me handle this?"_ Lotus asked

Saiki looked down at the ball. _"I could let her handle this. But there is still the chance her powers might come out and she could kill someone."_

Lotus paled at the idea, various scenarios of her causing bodily harm to her classmates.

 _"Frankly speaking winning this would be simple. But if I do that, my likability will shoot straight up. People will always be watching me. That would not be good. But if I do nothing and lose, I'll become even less likable than stink bugs. In that case, I'll probably attract the attention of bullies. Either way, I'll attract attention, so the outcomes of the game no longer_ matters _."_

Saiki's eyes flashed and several numbers appeared over everyone's head. The numbers came together combing into a large red heart-shaped meter, with the number 41 on it.

 _"41….It's a little low."_

 _"Whoa what the heck is that thing?"_ Lotus pointed at Saiki's likeability meter.

 _"It's a likeability meter. By reading the minds of everyone around you can calculate the likeability people have for you."_

With the new information, Lotus studied Saiki's meter. It was an average number, perfect for a guy like Saiki who didn't wanna stick out. She then looked over her own head, there was a small puff of pink smoke and a pink heart-shaped meter appeared. She gasped seeing it was an 85.

"Whoa!" She gave a cute gasp.

Then the meter went up to 88.

 _"It went up! Saiki, are you seeing this?"_

 _"You know I can't."_

 _"Oh right. Your powers don't really work_ on _me."_

 _"Overall my goal is 50. In order to get that, I need to take out at least one person!"_

Saiki threw the ball and it looked like it was floating to the other

opponent team member.

The boys around Saiki let out angry shouts at the weak looking toss.

"Stop screwing around, you jerk!"

"What're you doing?!"

"Your throwing like that again?!"

"Play more seriously!"

Lotus gaped as she saw Saiki's meter drop down to 20.

 _"20, huh? It went down instantly. At likeability 20, girls would scream when they have to sit next to you when the seating gets changed. It's true that I'm not good at throwing the ball. My normal throw exceeds the speed of sound."_

 _"If you throw like that you'll cause a catastrophe,"_ Lotus said

 _"That's why this slow ball is different from the one before…."_

"I got it! I got it!"

The boy went to catch the ball but it spun in his hands before falling out dropping to the ground.

"A spin ball!"

"He dropped it! He's out!"

"He couldn't catch that one?!"

"Yeah!"

The team cheered as the boy was out of the game.

Saiki's meter went up to 56.

"Way to go Saiki!" Lotus cheered

Saiki's meter jumped up to 73 points due to Lotus's cheer.

 _"Don't cheer for me, it attracts too much attention."_

 _"Sorry."_

 _"But at least with this, I can end around with a 50 now even if I become out. I'll get hit on the next one."_

The ball was picked up by none other than Kaido.

"So it's finally my turn to throw the ball, huh? Do you know what this means? That means it's the end for you, Saiki!"

 _"Geez, I have to get his by his ball?"_

"Take this! Meteor Spark Genocide Ball!"

Kaido threw the ball, well threw the ball was stretching it. If a newborn deer could throw a ball, Lotus imagined that's what Kaido looked like.

"He throws like a girl!" A boy yelled

Lotus felt a tick mark appear on her forehead. Lotus only had two major buttons that shouldn't be pushed. And mocking a girls athleticism was one of them. When this happened all rational and clear thinking flew out the window.

"Yaaah!"

Lotus let out a battle cry jumping before Saiki snatching the ball out of the air.

"Wow, the new girl really jumped high."

Lotus held the ball in one hand, her bangs covering her eyes.

"I'll show you how a real girl throws."

Lotus's eyes sparked as she glared towards Kaido.

 _"That's an intense look."_

Lotus lifted up the ball then launched it full force at Kaido.

"Whoa look at that thing go!"

The ball hit Kaido then ricocheted hitting 3 other boys in the process. The boys were knocked off their feet landing harshly on the ground groaning.

"Whoa, she got 4 out at once!"

"All right!"

"Lotus-chan is incredible!"

Lotus's likeability meter jumped up to 99.

 _"Well, at least that's fewer members to take out and less attention_ on _me. But my meter is still at 73 that's still way too high. At that level even if your greetings don't make sense people would respond."_

Nendou was the next person to pick up the ball. "That's my pal!"

 _"I'll just get out now."_

Saiki didn't move as he allowed the ball to hit him. His meter dropped down to 55.

Saiki seemed satisfied that is until-

"I got it!"

-Hairo slid in out of nowhere face first in the ground catching the ball before it could hit the dirt.

"His shorts felt again." Lotus blanched

Hairo stood up. "I made it back in time."

Saiki's likeability meter went up to 67. _"Not you again."_

Lotus looked at Hairo's likeability meter and it was at 100.

"You guys I saw all the spirit you two put into your throws. I was so moved!" Hairo started to cry.

 _"I don't care about your likeability."_

A fire lit in Hairo's eyes. "Just leave the rest to me!"

Hairo took out everyone else on the other team until the ball was caught by Nendou.

"Your comeback ends now. Don't lump me together with those small fries." Nendou said

"Let's pick this up where we left off earlier. Bring it on!" Hairo declared

Saiki looked down at Hairo's knee that was patched up. "With that injury, Hairo probably can't catch Nendou's ball right now."

"Take this!" Nendou shouted

He threw the ball full force hitting Hairo in the stomach.

 _"I have no choice."_

By using his powers Saiki jumped and caught the ball.

 _"He injured his knee because of me."_ He tossed the ball down to Hairo. _"I hate to attract attention, but I hate being in someone's debt even more."_

 _"Saiki….you really are a nice guy huh?"_

Hairo smiled and turned to Nendou. "Now take this!"

The ball hit Nendou getting him out meaning that the Paper Team won.

Everyone cheered at the victory.

"He did it! We made a comeback!"

Saiki's likeability meter went up to 82.

 _"Good grief it ended up at 82. I guess I'll inconspicuously bring it down little by little."_

"Saiki and that new girl are amazing."

Lotus was quickly surrounded by boys being complimented and praised. She flushed a little by the attention.

"It was really nothing." Lotus gave a shy smile rubbing the back of her head.

The boys around her blushed staring at Lotus's smile and her meter jumped up to 100.

"Hey, pal!" Suddenly Saiki was swept up in a hug by a crying Nendou. "That was a good match."

All of the boys looked confused staring at the two, then Saiki's meter dropped to 46.

 _"Wow, likability can drop so easily."_


	6. Chiyo Trying to Reach Saiki

_This is Lotus_

 _This is Saiki_

 ** _This is Saiki and Lotus at the same time_**

 _~This is the normal thoughts of other people~_

 **Chiyo Trying to Reach Saiki - That's a Far Reach!**

Another day, more school.

Lotus opened her school locker reaching for her shoes, but as she reached for them her hand touched something else.

 _"Huh?"_

Lotus slipped her hand out and instead of pulling out her shoes she pulled out a blue envelope.

 _"A Letter?"_

Lotus stared quizzically at the letter.

 _~"Yosh, she's got!"~_

Lotus quickly whipped her head to the left hearing a voice. She looked just in time just to see a mess of blonde hair duck behind a set of lockers.

 _"He's got to be the one who gave me this."_

Lotus was about to open the letter but paused when more thoughts flowed into her head.

 _~"Man, to have a girl as hot as_ her _be my girlfriend would be awesome! I could brag to all the guys and-"~_

Lotus's face turned red as the boy's thoughts drifted to the more perverted side.

 _"Now I really don't wanna open this letter. But if I just throw it out it'll be rude, it's not like he knows I can read his thoughts. Okay, I'll open the letter then turn the guy down, just like any normal girl who can't read thoughts would do."_

Lotus went to open the letter again but stopped as the school's bell went off. She tucked the letter into her pocket going to read it later.

* * *

Lotus made her way to class and sat down. With her new seating assignment, she conveniently gets to sit right next to Saiki.

Other students were up and about gossiping about various things. Mainly love and relationships.

Since she had a few minutes before class officially started Lotus decided to open and read the letter. Even if she couldn't read the boys thoughts she probably would have turned him down anyway. She's not one to really rush into relationships. So many people take love so easily and act so careless with it. A lot of people seem to force themselves into it, thinking that being in a relationship is an absolute necessity like food or water. I mean how can you declare love for someone you haven't even talked to? She understands having a crush and finding someone attractive but the way the word "Love" was thrown around so much just made no sense to Lotus.

Don't get her wrong is not like she was against love or anything like that but she wants to have a meaningful love, something like what her sister has. Not some guy who simply has interest in her just because of her looks, but a guy who actually loves interest in Lotus just because she's Lotus.

Lotus took out a folded piece paper from the envelope, and as soon as she read the first words her face paled.

The letter was for a lack of better words a sappy attempt to declare undying love to Lotus.

"I've loved you the moment I set my eyes on you, I watch you every day. All of your habits are adorable and I love how we share the same interests." Lotus read.

 _"Is this guy stalking me?"_

The letter just got even more disturbing as the boy made suggestive innuendos that she assumed that the guy who wrote this thought was clever and charming.

Saiki didn't need to even look at Lotus, he could feel the uncomfortable waves flowing off her.

Lotus quickly turned to Saiki holding out the letter.

 _"What are you doing? I don't want that."_

Lotus pointed at the letter. _"Tell me you can teach me how to summon fire, so I can burn this."_

* * *

Since Saiki couldn't teach her fire yet in class, Lotus took the next best option by crumpling up the letter and discarding it in the nearest trash bin. Any girl would have done the same thing. After that, she sat next to Saiki listening, like she had a choice, to Saiki's thoughts.

 _"It's like Cupid shot everyone in my class. I don't get love at all. For example, take Teruhashi. Every guy is obsessed with her."_

Lotus looked over to see Teruhashi surrounded by other girls.

 _"Is she sparkling?"_

 _"Meanwhile I have zero interest in her. That's because I know who she really is."_

 _"Hmmm? If Saiki says that then I wonder what Teruhashi really thinks."_

Listening in on Teruhashi's conversation Lotus concentrates on what the blue haired girl is thinking.

"Come on Teruhashi, when are you gonna get a boyfriend?" One of Teruhashi's friend asked.

"Well, I think I'm just too young to be dating. Studying should be our only focus as students." Teruhashi smiled.

Lotus concentrated and tuned into Teruhashi's thoughts and the words she said definitely did not match up with the words she thought.

 _~"Actually I don't date immature brats. They have to at least have an annual income of 40 million yen!"~_ Teruhashi thought

 _"Whoa….now I get what Saiki says. I guess it must be hard for him to find a relationship if he keeps hearing thoughts like that. But then again when he does find a girl who's genuine then it'll be nice. I guess reading minds has its ups and down."_

 _"Also this is what she really looks like to me."_

Lotus didn't understand what Saiki meant by that until she looked back over at Teruhashi and she had to hold in her yelp as the other girl's skin vanished just revealing her muscle beneath.

 _"Gah! That's disturbing! You have X-ray vision?"_ Lotus questioned

 _"Yup, and I can control that about as much as I can control my telepathy."_

 _"Now I really see why you don't go looking for a relationship. Who'd wanna go in for hug or kiss and have that pop up into their field of vision."_

Saiki kept his gaze on Lotus, and she just stayed Lotus. Since Lotus just absorbed any power Saiki directed towards her the x-ray vision didn't affect her. So all he saw was the pink haired girl. It was kind of a nice change of pace for him seeing someone not turn into muscle and bones.

Lotus turned away but then a thought popped into her head. _"Oh crap! I just realized that's gonna happen to me too! Man, I already see enough guys leering at me, making those gross perverted looks. But being able to hear their thoughts_ is _going to be a nightmare. That boy's thoughts from this morning are probably tamed to what I'll hear from older men. That's it I'm not riding the bus anymore."_

Tears start pouring down Lotus's cheeks as she turned to Saiki.

 _"What's wrong with you?"_

 _"Saiki….I feel your pain."_

 _"Oooookay then."_

* * *

Even though Saiki didn't think so, Lotus thought that she and Saiki were building up a nice friendship. And like any good friend Lotus was ready to help if said friend was facing a serious problem. Which according to Saiki he was.

Sitting a few seats away from Saiki and Lotus was a girl who went by the name of Chiyo Yumehara. She often spent most of the class gazing at Saiki, which to Lotus looked more like a feral beast stalking its prey.

 _~"Ahhh, Saiki always looks so dreamy."~_ Chiyo thought

 _"He looks more bored to me."_

 _~"Saiki…. Lately, I just can't stop thinking about you."~_ Chiyo thought

Lotus did not get other girls. How can someone seriously fall in love with someone they've never even talked to. The way Chiyo thought you'd think Saiki was a prince on a white horse coming to the rescue. The vision of Saiki doing so made Lotus cover her mouth trying to stifle the laughs.

 _~"Sweet Saiki, I have such-what?!"~_

Lotus was confused by Chiyo's abrupt thought exclamation until she looked over at Saiki. She had to push her face into her desk to hold back more laughter. Chiyo had been startled when Saiki made the most ridiculous face resembling a fish, which Lotus found hilarious.

 _~"What was that?!"~_ Chiyo thought

 _"Saiki as funny as that face is if you keep making it people are gonna pay more attention to you."_ Lotus giggled telepathically.

 _"She's right. If I keep this up I'll be labeled as a freak and I really don't wanna stand out."_

 _~"I wonder what he's thinking right now?"~_ Chiyo thought

 _"I need to crush her hopes."_

 _~"I have to find out and in order to do that,"~_ Chiyo got a determined look on her face. _~"I have to get close to him!"~_

At the same time, Saiki was thinking. _"I have to get as far away from her!"_

 _"Well….this is gonna be interesting."_

* * *

So Saiki's plan for the day was to avoid Chiyo by any means possible. Saiki and Lotus, mainly Lotus all on her own, appointed herself the official goalie of this plan. Chiyo was the ball and Saiki was the net. Saiki didn't really seem to care what Lotus did.

"It doesn't matter to me just don't draw any attention to me," Was Saiki's response to Lotus's declaration.

Which Lotus responded with, "Right! Operation Block and Avoid Chiyo is in commence!"

So here Lotus was following Chiyo around who in turn was following Saiki around. Right now Chiyo was hiding behind the corner of a hallway Saiki was walking down, clutched to her chest was a pile of papers. Lotus was hiding in the corner classroom standing right at the doors, being able to clearly hear Chiyo's thoughts.

 _~"Here he comes and he's all alone. Here's my chance! Just remember the plan. First Saiki and I will bump into each other at the corner, papers flying everyone where."~_ Chiyo went over the plan in her head.

Lotus had to hold in her giggles as Chiyo imagined herself bumping into Saiki then the boy helping her up while complimenting her eyes.

She knew it was a little mean to laugh at the girls love fantasy, but it was just so funny how Chiyo imagined Saiki.

"That's not Saiki in the slightest." Lotus snickered quietly to herself.

 _~"Okay, here it goes!"~_ Chiyo threw herself from around the corner causing Saiki and Lotus to act.

Using his powers Saiki did a flip over Chiyo missing her completely. Lotus came out of the classroom and with Saiki's help made all the papers fly into her hands. This all happened so fast Chiyo didn't even notice what had occurred. Saiki was already down the hallway disappearing around another corner.

"Man that was close you almost dropped all of your papers." Lotus smiled to Chiyo handing the shorter girl back her papers, "Make sure to be careful next time." Lotus gave Chiyo a pat on the head before walking off in the same direction Saiki had.

Chiyo just stood there stunned not sure what had just happened.

* * *

Chiyo's next attempt happened during class. Saiki sat his desk his normal expressionless look on his face. Lotus had a Magna in her hands happily reading it.

The two's attention were quickly turned to Chiyo when the girl thought out her next plan.

 _~"Okay, next plan! The handkerchief! First I'll casually drop this handkerchief by Saiki's feet_ then _he sees it and says…."~_ Chiyo drifted off into another love daydream over Saiki.

Lotus hid her face behind her Manga holding back more giggles over Chiyo's love fantasy. Especially the part where she imagined Saiki picking up her handkerchief, smelling it than describing the scent of the pink cloth as a "Sunny Day".

 _"The way she views Saiki...it's_ cute, _but so funny."_

 _~"The best thing about this plan is if he doesn't even notice the handkerchief I still have an excuse to talk to him."~_ Chiyo finally walked into the room. _~"Give it your best shot Chiyo!"~_ The love-struck girl casually strolled by Saiki dropping her handkerchief. _~"Now to see if Saiki takes the bait."~_

Lotus observed as Saiki simply used his telekinesis to put Chiyo's handkerchief back in her pocket.

Chiyo stood still not moving as she waited for Saiki to say something. _~"Hmm, he's not saying anything. Oh well on to plan B."~_

Chiyo pretended to check her pockets. "Oh my goodness, that's so bizarre my pink handkerchief-is right here!" Chiyo exclaimed as she pulled the pink fabric out of her pocket.

 _~"How the heck did that happen!"~_ Chiyo thought. _~"Oh no another disaster!"~_ She thought running away.

Lotus sweat dropped watching the girl flee, _"I kinda feel a little bad for her."_

* * *

These attempts went on throughout the day Chiyo not giving up on any attempt to talk to Saiki.

During gym class, she "lost" her ball which was conveniently rolling towards Saiki. The pink haired boy simply just used his powers to force the ball back into Chiyo's hands.

Next came Chiyo carrying a large stack of books. She loudly stated how she wouldn't be able to open the door with her hands full. That's when Lotus appeared a smile on her face opening the door for the girl.

Another attempt was Chiyo offering cookies to Saiki she had made in home economics. Lotus was actually quite amazed as she watched Saiki switch places with a random guy, completely surprising Chiyo.

After that failed Chiyo decided to go with a plan where she would pick up a pencil and ask Saiki if he had dropped it. Giving her the opportunity to spark up a conversation. That plan was quickly stomped when Lotus interjected taking the pencil from Chiyo thanking the brunette for picking up her dropped writing utensil.

So, in the end, every one of Chiyo's plans failed.

* * *

A dejected looking Chiyo stood in one the hallways staring out the window.

 _~"Maybe Saiki and I weren't meant to be."~_ As she stared outside it started to rain. _~"Oh great and I forgot my umbrella today."~_ Chiyo gasped a sudden thought coming to her mind. _~"That's it!"~_

Chiyo now stood alone outside the front of the school as if waiting for someone. _~"I bet Saiki brought his umbrella to school he seems like the responsible type."~_

Chiyo drifted off into another one of her daydreams about Saiki, her thoughts silent to all but two people.

 _~"His smile is as bright as the sun."~_ Chiyo thought giggling

 _"Has she ever seen him smile?"_ Lotus tilted her head confused glancing over at Saiki. _"Cause I sure haven't."_ Lotus thought about and the large bright smile Chiyo had painted on Saiki's face and it just didn't really suit him.

 _~"This is the perfect plan!"~_ Chiyo cheered to herself.

Saiki stood with Lotus on the school's roof, Lotus holding a pink umbrella over both their heads, so they wouldn't get soaked. Saiki had a slight frown on his face, Lotus could tell he was rather exhausted from having to deal with Chiyo all day.

 _"I wonder what he's gonna do this time?"_

Lotus got her answer when Saiki lifted his hand into the air pointing up. A large beam of light shot out of his hand bursting through the clouds dispersing the bad weather.

 _"Holy crap!"_

While the rain was momentarily paused Saiki made his way down to the school entrance and casually walked by Chiyo.

 _~"The rain just stopped,"~_ Chiyo looked up confused, _~"_ And _there's Saiki."~_ Her confusion turned into depression as she watched the pink haired boy walk away without as much as a glance towards her. Lotus walked out of the school too her presence going unnoticed by the now crying Chiyo.

 _~"I give up. It seems like Saiki and I are always destined to be apart. Goodbye Saiki."~_ Chiyo thought

 _"Goodbye Yumehara. Please find someone else."_

 _"You gotta admit the girl's determination was a little admirable, but I guess that means nothing when someones going up against you Saiki."_

 _"I'm sure another guy will come along soon for her."_

As soon as Saiki thought that someone appeared next to Chiyo.

"Wanna share my umbrella?" A quite handsome black haired boy asked

Chiyo didn't look up as she answered." But the rain stopped."

"But not the rain of tears falling inside your heart." The boy said

At the sweet words, Chiyo blushed finally looking up at the boy.

"Please let me be the umbrella for the overcast over your heart." The boy smiled

 _~"This boy…I just met my soulmate."~_ Chiyo thought

 ** _"Okay, that's a little too soon!"_**

* * *

" _Man Saiki, I didn't know you could change the weather that's so cool. When are you gonna teach me that?"_

 _"First we gotta do the basics. The last time you sneezed you blew down a wall and you still make things float when you get scared or surprised."_

 _"Fair point."_

Since the two were a good distance away from school Saiki allowed Lotus to walk with him. She agreed upon the rule if he sensed anyone from school nearby she'd have to step away. As he said before Lotus attracted a lot of attention. Lotus, however, saw this thought as a step forward towards their friendship.

As the two walked a raindrop hit Lotus's cheek. She looked up to see the gray clouds rolling back in.

"Looks like the rain is coming back." Lotus was about to pull out her umbrella but paused when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Wha-"

Lotus's words were cut off as she and Saiki vanished.

* * *

"Gah!" Lotus gasped as she appeared in the street in front of her house.

"What the-" Lotus turned seeing she was right next to Saiki. "Not that I don't appreciate the lift home but please….warn me next time."

 _"That was my thanks for the help today. You know I don't like owing people"_

Lotus was stunned for a second but gave Saiki a large smile. "You know I didn't do it so you could owe me something. I did it because we're friends. Even if you don't think so." Lotus stated before walking to her house. She stopped at her door turning back to Saiki. "Mark my words, pink boy we will become friends!" She gave Saiki one last smile before going inside.

Saiki stood still watching Lotus disappear into her house.

 _"That girl is….."_ Saiki could finish his thought because he had no real words to exactly describe Lotus. He stood there for another second before going to his home.


	7. Mind Control

***Note -**

 _This is Lotus_

 _This is Saiki_

 _ **This is Saiki and Lotus**_

 **Mind Control?! - What's Natural is Actually Unatrual**

"Okay just remember what Saiki said and concentrate."

Right now Lotus was standing before a baseball that was sitting on the floor. She was dressed in workout gear, but today she wasn't just working out her body.

Lotus took a deep breath and lifted her hand up facing her open palm towards the baseball. She focused solely on the ball concentrating.

The ball was surrounded in a dark pink color and started to roll a bit on the floor. Lotus furrowed her brows focusing harder on her task.

The ball slowly started to lift off the ground causing Lotus to smile. She continued to make the ball float until it was at eye level.

 _"Okay now for the next-"_

"Lotus!"

"AHH!"

Lotus screamed surprised as the door was flung open and Ethan entered shouting her name.

Lotus lost control of the baseball and it flew across the room at a high speed. The ball ricocheted off a wall and shot towards a table that had an antique vase resting on it. The ball knocks over the table sending the vase flying into the air.

Lotus gasps throwing herself to the ground in a slide. She made it just in time, the vase landing right in her open hands. She let out a sigh of relief standing up. But she quickly let out a squeak ducking down to avoid the fast flying baseball.

Too bad for Ethan, who was still standing in the doorway with a confused look, reflexes weren't as good as Lotus's. The ball shot towards Ethan hitting him right in the smack dab middle of his forehead.

"Crap Ethan!" Lotus shouted as Ethan fell back.

* * *

"Here you go. Again I'm so so so sorry," Lotus apologized handing her sister a bag of ice.

"It's okay Lotus, I know you didn't do it on purpose and I'm sure Ethan feels the same. Right dear?" Violet looked down to her lap were Ethan's head was resting.

"That's right little Lotus. I know you wouldn't intentionally harm me. I can just think of this as a love tap!" Ethan smiled as Violet placed the bag of ice of his forehead.

 _"You are a strange yet kind man."_

"So Ethan was there something you wanted from me?" Lotus asked

"Oh right!" Ethan shouted standing up quickly causing the ice bag to drop.

 _"Should you be standing up so quickly?"_

"Little Lotus I need you and Violet for my next project!" Ethan exclaimed

 _"Oh great….."_

* * *

"Lotus you look so adorable! Oh, Ethan, it's perfect! You're truly a genius!" Violet gushed

Ethan gave Violet a large beaming smile, "Oh, Violet when I hear you compliment me so it makes my heart soar. Any praise from you is like a gift from the heavens above!"

The couple started giggling at one another.

Lotus let out a sigh, _"You two can be so ridiculous."_

"Hey, can I get out of this now?" Lotus asked

"Almost Lotus I just need to make a few more modifications. Oooh, I just wish it wasn't for anyone else though. You make it look so cute!" Ethan grinned

Lotus gave a second sigh but smiled as she shook her head. "You say that about everything you put me in."

"That's because it's true! Our little Lotus can make anything look good," Violet smiled

Ethan nodded his head agreeing, "True, true!"

As the couple continued to gush Lotus observed herself in the mirror.

She was dressed in a beautiful long gown, to be more specific a wedding dress. Violet was dressed in the exact same dress.

Ethan was a well-known costume designer, owning his own business. He custom makes outfits for various events across the globe, special orders for individuals, and sometimes his costumes even get featured in television and films. He also specializes in making masks and prosthetic costume pieces, his business does really well when festivals and Halloween come around. And guess who his two favorite models were?

Lotus is pretty sure Ethan uses her and her sister more than he uses his mannequins. Lotus remembered when Ethan got a custom order to make some costumes for a maid cafe that wanted to have cat-themed maid outfits. Man, that was a long couple of weeks. But Ethan is good at what he does. Everyone time a festival comes around he makes Violet and Lotus amazing Kimmons to wear, and of course, he makes one for himself that always matches Violet's.

"So Ethan what are these dresses for?" Lotus asked

"It's for a commercial. It's supposed to be about a young girl imaging the perfect wedding when she's younger and then finally getting the wedding when she's older." Ethan explained pinning the bottom of Lotus's dress.

"Oh so that's why there's a dress for Lotus and I," Violet stated

"That's right!" Ethan said

"Lotus you look so cute I just can't handle it! I'm gonna go get my camera!" Violet exclaimed hiking up her dress.

 _"Why would I think she wouldn't get the camera. It is Violet after all."_

"Wait, Violet!" Ethan called out making Violet pause in the doorway.

 _"Is he stopping her?"_ Lotus thought rather confused

Ethan smiled holding up an expensive looking camera, "Use mine it's got more memory!"

"Great idea!" Violet replied

 _"Yup….should have seen that one coming."_

* * *

"Oh, Lotus! I almost forgot Mom and Dad sent us a package!" Violet exclaimed happily.

"Really? I thought they'd be too busy in Australia," Lotus said

"Let's see what's in it," Violet set a medium-sized box down opening it. She reached into the box pulling out various things.

"Let's see what we got here," Lotus pulled out a knitted cap. "This is cute, but why would you need to wear this in a place that's so hot?"

"Look Lotus, they sent us some snacks and candy." Violet held up some boxes.

"Looks good. Oh! Here're some pictures," Lotus grabbed three photos and the two sisters stared at them.

The first photo showed a tall man with had purple hair just, like Violet's, whose face was overtaken by a large beard, but his dark pink eyes twinkled as he smiled at the camera. He was holding some climbing gear as he stood before a large cave opening.

The next photo was of a beaming woman with dark orange hair that seemed to fade into lighter yellow as it reached the tips. The woman was covered in dirt and had a proud smile on her face as she knelt on some large boulders.

The last photo was of the man and woman together. The woman was being held in the man's arms and in the woman's hands was a picture of Lotus and Violet when they were younger.

"Those two," Lotus smiled

"Looks like they're having fun. I hope everything is going well," Violet said

"They're professionals I'm sure this is a piece of cake for them," Lotus said

"Oh look," Violet reached into the box pulling out a letter, "There's a letter here for Ethan."

"Did my name just leave the lips of the most beautiful woman in the world?" Ethan mused walking into the room.

"Ethan, mom, and dad sent us a package," Violet said

Ethan smiled walking over to the girls. "How nice."

Violet held up the letter, "Look they even sent you a letter."

"Really how nice," Ethan continued to smile as he took the letter opening it. His eyes scanned the words written on the paper and Ethan's face slowly went pale.

 _"What's with that face?"_

"What does it say?" Violet asked

Ethan doesn't answer nor move he just stands there frozen, paled faced, the letter gripped tightly in his hands.

"Ethan? Ethan?" Violet stood up and waved her hand in front of Ethan's face.

"I think he's in shock. What the heck does that letter say?" Lotus pried the letter out of Ethan's hands and read it.

 _"Dear Ethan, I hope everything is going well for you. I heard your business is thriving and I even saw one of your outfits in my favorite show, congratulations. Please keep an eye out_ on _Violet, I know when she gets too into studying she forgets to take proper care of herself. Violet is as lucky to have you as you are to have her. Also, please continue to be the older brother Lotus needs, make sure to scare away any nasty men for me. Please continue to look after my daughters._

 _P.S. If you break my Violet's heart or if any harm comes to either of my girls I'll use my excavations tools on your face."_

Lotus finished reading and a sweat drop fell down the back of her head.

 _"Ahhh, that's Mom for ya."_

* * *

"Alight I'm off to school!" Lotus called out as she slipped on her shoes.

"Lotus wait!" Ethan shouted running to the front door. "Here I got you something."

"Huh? What's the occasion?" Lotus asked

"Just a little something Violet and I picked out for you," Ethan held his hand out placing something in her hand.

Lotus blanched seeing what Ethan had placed in her hand. _"Seriously?"_

Ethan beamed, "Brass knuckles to defend yourself from perverts and look they're pink, so they match your hair."

 _"I'm not taking these with me to school!"_

* * *

Lotus walked to school, without the brass knuckles. As she made it to school grounds Coach Matsuzaki stood outside the gates holding a paper fan over his shoulder. Lotus guessed to discipline any students.

"Hey!" Coach Matsuzaki shouted stopping a male student. "What's with the sloppy uniform?!"

"Sorry, sir!"

Coach Matsuzaki gave the boy a few hits with his fan. "Tuck that shirt into those pants right now!"

"Yes, sir!" The student shouted back tucking in his shirt.

 _"He's loud and strict but I know he means well,"_ Lotus looked around at the other students who were watching, reading their thoughts, _"Although I'm pretty sure my feelings are not shared amongst my peers."_

"I guess Coach Matsuzaki is on the warpath again. Great." A male student groaned.

 _"A surprise inspection."_

Lotus stood next to Saiki, which he allowed since they were in a large group of students. She just wasn't allowed to physically talk to him only communicate through telepathy.

 _"An inspection huh?"_ Lotus shifted her gaze to Saiki taking in the antenna attached to his head. Let's not forget the pink hair. _"How are you gonna…."_ Lotus trialed off still staring at Saiki's hair ornaments plus those green sunglasses her wears.

 _"How am I'm gonna pass this?"_ Saiki walks forward heading to the school gates.

"Hey stop right there!"

For a second Lotus thinks Coach Matsuzaki is yelling at Saiki but notices that it was actually Nendo he's barking at.

 _"Quite easily."_

"Huh?" Lotus walked past Coach Matsuzaki too, and he didn't say anything about her hair either. _"Now that I think about it not a single school I've been to has commented on my hair. The only comments I ever get is how rare my pink hair is, and that's saying something coming from the crazy colors I often see."_

 _"That's because of me."_

 _"Wait…."_ Lotus paused, _"Huh?"_

 _"The answer is simple."_

Saiki walked into class sitting down and Lotus followed suit.

 _"Yeah, not simple for me. In fact, now that I really think on the matter you have one of_ the most unique _looks but you seem to be a guy who barely stands out."_

 _"Mind control."_

 _". . . . .Eh!?"_

 _"I can alter people's thoughts to some extent."_

Behind Saiki and Lotus was Nendo who kept talking, pretty oblivious to the fact that the two of them were not listening to him.

 _"I can't completely control someone's actions, if I could this guy would shut up already. But what I can do is make what people perceive as unnatural, as actually benign natural. Remember the other day."_

 **Flashback**

Saiki and Lotus had been walking home when they passed by a man on the street. He paused for a second staring at the two pinkettes.

"Huh? Antenna?" The man said staring at Saiki's head. "Wait could it be possible that there just hair clips. Oh yeah sure that's what they are." The man then turned around going on is way.

 **Present**

 _"Oh, that's right!"_ Lotus said

 _"It's pretty simple. This way I can go through life and not stick out. But I have to use this power sparingly cause if I change the way of someone's thinking it'll affect the people around them too. For example, notice how you almost never see anyone with black hair."_

Lotus looked around the room and confirmed that Saiki was indeed right. _"That's true."_

 _"Believe it or not this is all due to my psychic powers."_

 _"Wait! Are you telling me that you've actually changed people themselves just by making them think that the unnatural is actually natural!"_

Saiki subtly nodded his head. _"I was the only kid growing up with pink hair. Everyone else had black or brown hair. Since I didn't wanna stand out I used mind control, as a result, it's pretty common to see all sorts of hair colors. And it's all natural. I altered human biology down to a genetic level."_

 _"Saiki…. you're extremely powerful. It's a bit scary,"_ Lotus thought

 _"It's good that you know that."_

 _"Did you just….make a joke?"_

Saiki didn't answer and stayed facing away from Lotus.

 _"But_ now _do you understand the potential risk of this power. You have to be careful too. Don't go trying to mind control anyone until I show you how to properly do it."_

 _"Can do!"_ Lotus twirled a lock of her pink hair. _"Hmm? Does this mean I have pink because of you."_

 _"Most likely."_

Lotus kept thinking as she looked up. _"But I've always had pink hair. It's not like I was born with brown hair then it started growing out pink. I was born with it being pink. Hey, just like you Saiki! It must mean something that we're both natural pink heads. Maybe it has to do with the days we were born on? I was born on August 15. When were you born? Are you older or younger than me?"_

When Lotus didn't get an answer she looked at Saiki who was staring at her.

 _"Did I say something wrong?"_

 _"I was born on August 15 too."_

 _"Wait really!? We were born on the same day, and we both have naturally pink hair. I say...it must be the cosmic universes doing! It's a sign Saiki that us pink heads must stick together!"_ Lotus declared

 _"Stop being weird and dramatic."_

 _"Oh, so you can make jokes but I can't."_

* * *

The end of the day came and Lotus was walking out of school.

"Hey, girl buddy!"

 _"Gah!"_ Lotus jumped as an arm was thrown over her shoulder. _"Nendo, you have to stop surprising me cause one of these days I'm gonna accidentally knock you out."_

"Let's go find Saiki and get some ramen." Nendo smiled

"That's alright I'm not-"

It seems like Lotus didn't have the option to decline the invite as Nendo started to drag her in searching for the male pinkenette.

* * *

Nendo must have a Saiki radar built into him because he found him rather quickly.

"Hey, buddy wanna come get some ramen?" Nendo asked

 _"Why did you ask him but dragged me?"_

Lotus was finally able to get out of Nendo's grip and just walked next to the two boys.

The sound of a baseball being hit rang through the air and a baseball flew right towards the three smacking Nendo right in the face.

"Holy crap!" Lotus shouted

"Crap! We hit Nendo!"

"Are you okay?!"

Two baseball club members ran over.

Nendo sprung angry about to shout at the two, but he didn't have to.

"Hey what's wrong with you two!" Lotus shouted holding the baseball up. "Do you not have any control over where you hit your balls. You could seriously hurt someone!"

"Sorry!" The two boys shouted

"You two need to learn better ball control, also when you hit a ball in the wrong direction at least call it out so people nearby know!" Lotus snatched one of the boys bats. She tossed the ball in the air then hit it with the bat. It soared through the air and landed right in the ball bin across the field.

"Amazing!"

"What incredible accuracy!"

The two baseball club members stared amazed at the perfect hit.

"Now," Lotus handed the bat back. "Don't hit balls near pedestrians until you can hit like that."

"Right!" The two boys bowed before running off back to practice.

"Wow, girl buddy that was amazing," Nendo said

"It was nothing. Baseball is my number sport. Also, I have a name." Lotus said

* * *

The three continued walking and Lotus kept glancing at Nendo.

 _"Hmmm I just realized it but Nendo wasn't injured at all by that ball hitting his face. I mean that thing was pretty freaking fast, and he didn't get a nosebleed."_ Lotus thought

 _"He was injured it just healed really fast,"_ Saiki said

 _"Healed really fast? Wait, Saiki is this you're doing again?!"_

 _"Yup, when I was little, a kid skinned his knee I healed it and needless to say he was surprised."_

Lotus nodded her head, _"Naturally."_

 _"So I just used mind control. Since people stopped suffering from minor injuries they thought it was natural for them to heal right away. As a result peoples ability so self-heal increased dramatically."_

 _"Huh? That explains a lot. I always thought it was odd when my sister broke her arm once, and she only had her cast on for a few days. Plus I hit Ethan in the head with a psychic-powered baseball the other day and he was up on his feet within a few minutes."_

 _"I'm sure you've noticed other things too right?"_ Saiki asked

 _"Now that you say it. There are some people who think way too fast. Some people's thoughts are like pressing fast-forward on a video."_

 _"Yup that's all because of me. Humans have evolved to think fast when they need to react instantly. Also, clothes can be torn off while the crotch remains covered. Tiny folks can be strong and you can knock someone out with just a chop."_

 _"Huh? You know I've always noticed these strange things but since no one else seemed to notice it, I just thought I was the strange one. Ha!_ " Lotus laughed. _"It turns I was the normal one! Since I absorb your powers is probably why I'm the only one who noticed all the strange things. So, if you ever feel like it could you change things back?"_

 _"Nope,"_ Saiki answered

* * *

The next day of school came around and once again Coach Matsuzaki was outside the school reprimanding students who disobeyed the dress code. Right now he was confronting a rather large male student.

"What's that! You wanna tell me what rules I'm violating!" The Student shouted at Coach Matsuzaki

 _"Whoa, he's huge! Is he a student or a professional wrestler?!"_ Lotus thought

 _"He's_ a first _year here,"_ Saiki stated

 _"No way….he must have been held back."_

 _"Correct."_

Even with the large bulky student standing over him, Coach Matsuzaki didn't back down. The student retaliated by grabbing the front of Coach Matsuzaki's track uniform.

"You don't wanna mess with me you bastard!" He then ripped the tracksuit right off, with a little bit of cloth still in place to cover Coach Matsuzaki's crotch.

 _"Well, that's an image I'm gonna need to erase from my mind."_ Lotus thought

 _"I can do that,"_ Saiki said

 _"Please do."_

The large student pulled back his fist.

"That's his legendary planet destroying attack! Lighting magnum flavored punch!" Someone shouted

 _"What are we in a video game now! And why such a long name!"_ Lotus exclaimed

The punk student threw his fist forward but it didn't hit its target. A loud smack sound and students gasped as the fist was caught, but not by Coach Matsuzaki.

"Mr. Takayama!" Someone gasped

Mr. Takayama, with the single grip he had on the large delinquent easily lifted him off his feet and threw the student down with a heavy thud. The student hopped back up going in for another punch. Mr. Takayama easily evades the move appearing behind the student giving him a swift chop to the back of the neck knocking him out.

"Whoa, that was a chop! Mr. Takayama chopped him!" A student gasped

Mr. Takayama checked on Coach Matsuzaki who seemed to be just fine.

 _"Wait, his clothes are back!"_ Lotus said

 _"That's another one of the changes I made,"_ Saiki said

 _"What an odd thing to change. Well at least it seems like you've got everything under control, sure things are a bit off, but they aren't ridiculously crazy. Just don't think anything where like people start growing tails or something like that."_

 _"Don't_ you _think it or it might happen."_

 _"Crap your right!"_


	8. A Genius Magician?

_**Guest - The longer Lotus is around Saiki the more powers she develops and she gains certain ones quicker depending on the ones that he uses more around Lotus, that's why she gained telepathy almost instantly. Keep reading and you'll see how it goes.**_

 _ **Galaxywolfwing - I have a special chapter all planned out for that, keep reading and see what's to come. Also, I don't have a schedule I just write when I feel like it or get inspired.**_

 _This is Lotus_

 _This is Saiki_

 ** _This is Saiki and Lotus_**

~This is the Normal Thoughts of Other People~

 **A Genius Magician? - The Surprise of Television!**

Today seemed like any other day. It was after school and Lotus trailed behind Saiki as the two made their way home.

"Who's ready for another tres bien trick by me! Master illusionist Uryoku Chouno."

Lotus paused turning her head, "Oh a street magician."

"Hey kids, the pink heads, join the fun," Uryoku called out to Saiki and Lotus. "I'll do a trick to put a smile on your face." He said mainly to Saiki.

 _"No thanks already seen it."_

Lotus focused on where Saiki was looking and almost gasped when the magician's hat became see-through, and she could spot a dove sitting on the guys head.

 _"That's right x-ray vision. That's one of the skills Saiki just recently taught me about. What a perfect time to practice."_

"What about you young lady, I'm sure my amazing abilities will boggle and bewitch your mind," Uryoku laughed

 _"You know I used to love magic tricks as a kid, but after spending so much time around Saiki, they've lost their wow factor,"_ Lotus thought

"No thanks I think we're good," Lotus said

"Haha! I see I've got two skeptics. But once you see my show you'll become a believer." Uryoku smiled

Seeing the magicians large smile Saiki gave in.

 _"Fine, I'll watch. Only so you'll leave me alone."_

Lotus and Saiki stepped up joining Uryoku's crowd.

"Alright!" Uryoku held up a box, "In my hands, I hold an ordinary cardboard box."

 _"Nope. There's nothing ordinary about it."_

The box went transparent like the hat had, and Lotus saw the object was stuffed with doves.

 _"Holy crap how many doves can that man shove in one box?"_

Uryoku opened the box, "As you can see its empty inside."

 _"At that angle, they can't tell there's a partition."_

"But watch," Uryoku tapped the box with a cane, "Just a couple taps and its party time." He opened the box and all the doves flew out, "Aren't they amazing folks."

The crowd clapped watching the doves fly off into the sky. Saiki and Lotus were the only two who weren't clapping. Saiki looked disinterested while Lotus looked up watching the doves fly off with a quizzical expression on her face.

 _"How does he plan to get those birds back?"_

Seeing them not react Uryoku pointed at the two pink haired teens, "Hey their kid's tres bien am I right?"

 _"It's not tres bien."_

 _"Is he Japanese or French I can't tell? Also…."_

Saiki and Lotus look back at Uryoku's hat to see the dove he had hidden in it on the verge of passing out.

 ** _"I'm worried about that dove."_**

Uryoku rolled out two large boxes. "And now ladies and gentlemen please turn your attention here to the main event of the show. My super illusion teleporting from one box to another, will be my lovely assistant Michael."

Uryoku snapped his fingers and a man who looked more like a hobo walked out from nowhere.

 _"Lovely is a stretch."_

Micheal climbed into one of the large boxes.

"The beautiful Micheal is entering the box and drum roll," Uryoku started rolling his tongue imitating a drum roll.

 _"This is so sad."_

Lotus looked at the table behind the boxes and could spot Micheal crawl underneath it heading to the other box.

 _"What expression am I supposed to be making now?"_

 _"Wonder...I think? Though I guess to a guy like you, who can lift a building with his mind this must seem rather boring."_

"La La-la!" Uryoku shouted throwing confetti.

 _"His overconfidence makes me cringe."_

 _"Saiki the dove."_ Lotus gesture to Uryoku's hat.

The dove that was under Uryoku's hat was no longer moving.

 _"Does that hat have air holes?"_

Uryoku walked over to the other box. "Alright let's open the box."

 _"Uh-oh, lovely Micheal isn't done teleporting yet."_

Lotus covered her mouth holding in her giggles. _"Saiki I think listening to your comments are way more fun than any magic show."_

Saiki glanced at Lotus before going back to Uryoku.

"Three, two, one!" Uryoku opened the box, "It's party time! Tres bien!"

Micheal came out…..but from under the table. Everyone in the audience was silent staring at the two.

 _"Now I really don't know what expression to make."_

Everyone but Saiki and Lotus walked away leaving behind a rather depressed and broken Uryoku.

 _"How about that expression?"_ Lotus motioned to Uryoku's face.

 _"Yeah, that one seems appropriate."_

* * *

"Why should I pay you for ruining the illusion?" Uryoku spoke to Micheal.

"I moved at the normal speed it was you who went too fast." Micheal held his hand out. "Now you hand over that 500 yen."

"No one tipped me for this performance, so I couldn't tip you even if I wanted too." Uryoku finally noticed that Lotus and Saiki were still there. "Hey, why are you two hanging around?" Saiki and Lotus pointed at their heads. "What? Oh, you wanna give me a tip." Uryoku gave a little chuckle, "I could never take money from kids," He removed his hat, "The look of joy on your faces-" That's when he noticed the passed out half-dead dove in his hat.

"Piiko!"

 _"Hey, Saiki did we ever have looks of joy on our faces during the show?"_ Lotus asked

 _"Beats me,"_ Saiki answered

* * *

Uryoku had removed Piiko from his hat and luckily the bird was able to be revived. With a few minutes of fresh air, the dove was back to normal.

Uryoku held Piiko in his hands stroking the bird. "I completely forgot she was up there."

 _"How can you forget there's a dove on your head?"_

 _"Yeah, you should of at least felt that she stopped moving."_

"So you two weren't trying to tip me but you were trying to remind me. Wait does that mean….?"

Saiki tensed up.

"….you're a magician. That's how you knew she was up there," Uryoku looked at Lotus, "And you must be his lovely female assistant, a pretty face like yours must really draw the crowds in."

 _"I should have kept walking."_

 _"Wait am I the assistant because I'm a girl or because of my face?"_

"If your instincts are that good you must have hated my show," Uryoku sadly said looking down.

 _"Hates a rather strong word."_

"Maybe I'm not cut out for the magician game after all. Unit a few months ago I was just your average office drone and I made a small mistake." Uryoku dropped his head further his shoulders sagging showing his sorrow.

 _"Oh boy…."_

 _"I wasn't prepared for an origin story today."_

"Corporate fat cats laid me off then my wife skipped town," Uryoku told the two.

 _"Is it too late to walk away?"_

 _"I think it is."_

"With no job, I couldn't pay the mortgage anymore. One little mistake and my career, wife, and home disappeared. And then it dawned on me...I should become an illusionist," Uryoku said

 _"Wait what?"_

 _"How the heck do you come to that conclusion?"_

"Yeah, because so many things vanished from my life than making things disappear must be my talent!" Uryoku declared

 _"Your only talent is self-delusion."_

"Even though I've been offered another office job I turned it down to start my new life doing street magic!" Uryoku said

 _"Again what?"_

 _"I guess his other talent is not thinking things through."_

"If I can save up one million yen then I can buy the sawing a body in half trick. Then my wife will sure to come back!" Uryoku said

 _"Don't be so sure."_

"But then I wonder if I chose the wrong path," Uryoku once again dropped his head showing his dejection over his current situation.

 _"Yes, yes you did."_

 _"Now quit street magic and get a real job."_

Uryoku looked at the two teens, "Sorry didn't mean to get so gloomy."

 _"What will it take for him to give up?"_

"Let's get back to your origin of becoming an illusionist and how you knew I had a dove on my head," Uryoku said

 _"That's it!"_

Saiki handed Lotus his school bag.

"Who gonna have your assistant pull something out of your bag?" Uryoku asked

Saiki focused on the bag his eyes wide.

 _"That's a new face for Saiki."_

 _"I'll just do a trick so far above his ability he'll realize how far gone he is and give up."_

"You're gonna have your assistant pull out...a dove! Well I'll have you know I can do a bowling ball," Uryoku said

 _"Lotus open the bag."_

Lotus unzipped the bag and reached in pulling out-

"Hehehe!"

Uryoku's lovely assistant Micheal! The magician was silent for a few seconds before his jaw dropped a look of pure shock on his face.

Uryoku fell to his knees, "That impossible."

 _"Aren't you supposed to say tres_ bien _? At least this will make him give up."_

"Thank you now I can see….if your talent was hair then it'd be a flowing mane while mine is just an eyelash," Uryoku lamented

 _"What's with that metaphor?"_

Suddenly Uryoku dropped to ground bowing in front of Lotus and Saiki.

"Make me your apprentice!"

 _". . . Should have seen this coming."_

* * *

Saiki sat before his television watching the shows. He enjoyed watching TV since he couldn't read the actors minds so nothing was spoiled or ruined. Right now he was anticipating the premiere of a new mystery show. Using his psychic powers he changed the channel.

"Tonight you will witness a miracle!"

 _"What?"_

"A stupendous amazing illusion performed by the former homeless man bird master, Uryoku Chouno!"

"Now that's tres bien!" Uryoku smiled his face featured on the television screen.

Saiki's face blanked not being to fully process what he was seeing, TV really did surprise him.

An Announcer appeared next to Uryoku, "After losing it all he became a street magician with tricks that only others could dream of."

 _"This isn't just a surprise it's unbelievable. How is a man who almost killed a dove good enough to be on TV?"_

Uryoku stood next to a large box that was surrounded by chains. "What I'm attempting tonight is the most dangerous escape you'll ever see."

The screen showed a figure being placed in a box, then the box being chained up with a sword shoved in the side. Then the box set on fire and to top it off it was rolled over by a steamroller.

 _"No way he's this good. Love it or not they'd never put someone on TV who would get hurt."_

A new person stepped onto the screen holding two sets of shackles.

"Now ladies and gentlemen, Uryoku's lovely guest assistant, Miss Mystery, will shackle both his hands and feet!" The announcer said

A young woman with long dark magenta hair walked over to Uryoku. Her outfit was bold consisting of a purple vest over a white button-up collared shirt with a purplish bow tie around her neck. She had on a ruffled magenta skirt and her exposed legs were covered by skin color tights. Her shoes were glittered kitten heels and to finish off her getup she had on white floppy bunny ears paired with a poofy whitetail. Her face was obscured by a magenta mask that covered her eyes and a partial part of her cheeks.

Unconsciously Saiki leaned in closer to the television screen studying the new female on screen, _"She looks familiar."_

The guest assistant shackled Uryoku's hands and feet, then the magician hopped his way over to the box, but he ended up tripping landing on his face.

"Oh no he fell!" The Announcer gasped

 _"It's just a trip he should be fine."_

Uryoku was fine, but he did now have a nosebleed. He stood up straight getting into the box.

"Now that's he's safely inside the box Mister Micheal, Uryoku formerly homeless assistant will lock him in!"

Micheal, who was now well dressed and far less scruffy looking, walked up and closed the door. As it closed Uryoku looked scared and yelled.

"Wait I'm not ready!"

Saiki's face blanched again. _"His screaming isn't a good sign."_

As Micheal chained up the box Uryoku could be heard from the inside of the box banging wildly.

 _"Neither is that banging."_

A large digital clock was displayed and 5:00 displayed on it.

"Now, Uryoku needs to escape in just 5 minutes, or he'll be destroyed along with the box!"

 _"I'm skeptical he can do this."_

Time ticked by and banging from the box only persisted getting more desperate and frantic.

"He's got three minutes left!"

 _"Should I help? I don't even think I can. I'm not close enough to jump in and save him without being seen."_

"Help!" Uryoku shouted

"Just two minutes left!"

 _"Then again if he fails he dies and I can't have that. It would ruin my night. If he fails it would cut into my mystery show. Is there a way to teleport him without getting on TV? Yes, the one place no one can find me."_ Saiki vanished from his room and reappeared inside the box. _"That's right inside the box. Now stop banging I'm here to get you out-"_

To say Saiki was once again surprised would have been pretty accurate for this moment. Instead of finding a frantic Uryoku knocking on the box like his life depended on it, he found a boombox that was playing the recorded sounds of the banging.

Outside Uryoku hid behind a tree happy that his trick was going perfectly. _"~Not only was I able to escape, but I was able to make it seem like I was in there about to die.~"_

Saiki's face remained blank but annoyance rolled off him. _"Wow, he really has improved."_

"Times up! Now Mister Micheal will use his swords!"

Micheal had no trouble sliding the sword into the first slot.

 _"I gotta think fast,"_ Saiki remained still as a sword was slid inside the box right in front of his face, _"I can't just teleport that power needs to be recharged for three minutes,"_ Saiki moved his head slightly forward as another sword came in.

"17 swords to go!"

 _"Oh, crap."_

Each sword was lid into the slot.

"How can anyone survive this!"

 _"No one except me."_ Saiki was inside the box twisted in a complicated awkward position avoiding each sword. _"I dislocated almost every joint in my body. Though I'm not gonna lie it hurts."_

For the next part of the trick, the box was raised off the ground.

"Now a construction crane is hoisting the box 30 meters in the air!"

Once the box was at the right height it was unhooked allowing it to plummet the 30 meters.

 _"The only way to avoid certain death is to…."_ Saiki waited and as the box was about to hit the ground he jumped. _"-jump! Perfect timing."_

"That box has seen catastrophic damage, but we still have more in store for it. Were lighting it on fire!"

The box was set ablaze the powerful flames engulfing it.

 _"I didn't even get a chance to catch my breath."_ Using his powers Saiki was able to create a shield of ice around his body to block the flames, _"At least with all the hot weather lately I've been able to hone my powers over temperature. Good thing it's me in this box and not Lotus."_

Saiki paused in his thoughts wondering why in the world he had thought of Lotus. He doesn't get any time to dwell on this as the announcer's voice boomed again.

"Now we're running it over!"

 _"There's more."_

"It's a steamroller!" The Announcer shouted

The box was easily crushed beneath the large machine.

"Chouno's box is as flat as a pancake. How could he survive that?!"

There was a loud ring of fanfare than three spotlights beamed down on the center of the stage next to the announcer and Chouno appears in the lights unharmed.

"Hold on! Who's that I see?! It's the miraculous illusionist Chouno! He's alive!"

The live crowd cheered as Chouno smiled on the stage. Off to the side, a hand pooped out of the ground, followed by an upper body.

 _"How annoying. He wasn't the only great escape."_ Saiki was covered in dirt the lower half of his body in a hole. _"I got lucky. The soil was extra soft. I know I said that I like TV because it can surprise you but this is too much."_

"Oh thank god you're okay!"

The mysterious female assistant, Miss Mystery, fell to her knees before Saiki a look of absolute relief on her face.

 _"What is she doing here?"_

"I heard your voice and didn't realize you were in the box until it was lifted up in the air. I'm just so happy that you weren't harmed," Miss Mystery said

 _"How did she-wait?"_

"Oh sorry I guess it's a little hard to tell it's me," Miss Mystery reaches up and pulls off her hair revealing it to be a wig. Pink locks flowed onto her shoulders as Miss Mystery removed her mask too.

"Seriously? What in the world are you doing here?" Saiki was getting real sick of these surprises, they weren't good for his health.

"Well its kind of a complicated story," Lotus said

 _ **A Few Weeks Ago**_

"Welcome home little Lotus!" Violet smiled as her little sister enter the home.

"Hello," Lotus slipped her shoes off at the front door, "Where's Ethan?"

"He should be-"

Violet was cut off by the sound of loud footsteps from upstairs.

"Violet! Lotus!"

Ethan appeared at the top of the staircase his happy sunny attitude so bright, Lotus was sure that his energy could be used to power the house.

"Exciting news! I was having a video conference on the computer and I just got a custom order for a new promo entertainment show that's going to air in a few weeks," Ethan announced

"How wonderful Ethan!" Violet smiled, "Does this mean we get to dress up Lotus?"

 _"That's your main question?"_

Ethan crossed his arms pouting, "The costumes are only for men."

 _"Why are you pouting?"_

Suddenly Ethan's attitude did a 180 and his pout went back to a full-blown smile.

 _"Wait now he's happy?"_

As Ethan talked his thoughts started to flow into Lotus's mind, and she started to gape internally at the conversation Ethan had over his video call with his customer.

"The costumes were only for men that is until I had a video meeting with the star of the new show! We were discussing ideas on how to really makes his outfit eye-catching for his very first television premiere. He also wanted the same for his assistant," Ethan said

"Assistant?" Violet questioned

"Yup it's for a magician named-"

"Uryoku Chouno." Lotus finished Ethan's sentence.

"That's right little Lotus! You already know, you're so adorable!" Ethan said

 _"I don't know how that equates to me being adorable."_

"So Violet, I told Uryoku if he really wanted to catch everyone's eye then he'd need to have a lovely eye-catching piece present with him at all times," Ethan said

 _"I can't believe he did that,"_ Lotus thought knowing exactly what Ethan was going to say to Violet.

Ethan reached into his pocket pulling out a wallet-sized photo of Lotus,"I showed him a picture of our little Lotus and suggested that she be one of his assistants too. Uryoku was a little shocked though when I showed him the picture. Get this he already knows our little Lotus. He really likes my idea of having her featured with him on his television debut."

 _"That's just-wait a minute!"_

"Why are you walking around with a photo of me in your pocket?" Lotus asked Ethan.

"Why I always keep a photo of my delightful little Lotus close to me, so I can show others how cute she is." Ethan reached into his other pocket pulling out a second much larger photo, "I also keep one of Violet in my other pocket. So I can show people, my gorgeous fiance."

"Ethan, you carry around pictures of my little sister?" Violet asked

"Yes," Ethan said

"Well I do too," Violet smiled pulling out several photos all featuring Lotus.

"How cute! Violet looks so magnificent holding all those cute pictures of our little Lotus!" Ethan gushed

 _"You two are ridiculous and why do you have so many pictures of me in your pocket?"_

"With the new outfit, I'm making we'll be able to add more cute photos of Lotus! So let's get started!" Ethan declared

"Right!" Violet cheered alongside her fiance.

Lotus mentally sighed. _"Something tells me this is going to be a daunting task."_

 ** _Present_**

"And that's what happened," Lotus finished her story.

 _"Your family is….I feel like scary isn't a strong enough word."_

Lotus sighed, "Yeah I know what you mean. But I was able to convince Ethan to make me a mask and wig. I knew that if people knew it was me my face would become more recognizable and I'd draw more attention to myself. This way with my identity hidden I can still hang out with Saiki." Lotus smiled

Just like when they had first met Saiki was shook by Lotus's genuine words. If it wasn't for the fact that his power hadn't recharged he probably would have teleported again out of sheer surprise. It was apparent that Lotus had this strange effect on him.

Lotus helped Saiki out of the hole, and he dusted himself off.

"Well, folks that sure was a first-rate escape!" The Announcer said

"Tres bien! Right!" Chouno cheered

 _"Time to go home, so I can watch my show."_

"Oh, that new mystery show? I've been wanting to see that too. Things have been getting a bit boring since I can hear everyone's thoughts television is one of the few outlets I can enjoy without having it ruined," Lotus said

On the stage, a man appeared next to Chouno. It was the main actor for the new mystery show, and he was holding up a promotional poster for the new show.

"Hey stick around for what's next, the world premiere of the mystery show, Lover Fantasy. My character will try to uncover the mystery of his girlfriends' death."

 _"~Viewers are gonna love this, that the twist is that I'm the killer.~"_

Both Saiki and Lotus blanched hearing the actors thoughts.

 _"Never mind."_

 _"This blows."_


	9. Beach Day!

_This is Lotus_

 _This is Saiki_

 ** _This Lotus and Saiki_**

 _~This is the thoughts of others~_

 **Beach Day! - Drowning! Why is Everyone Drowning?!**

A few months have passed for Lotus and in that time span she's discovered some interesting things, those things mainly centering around the one Kusuo Saiki, or her "Psychic in Crime". Not that she'd ever tell him that she gave him such a nickname.

One thing she had discovered was that although he acted stoic stating countless times that the people he constantly interacts weren't his friends, he had a big heart and was a very helpful person. Lotus had proof too, a few days ago Kaidou was being used by another classmate. Playing off of Kaidou's imaginary world where he was the Jet Black Wings, the other student got Kaidou to do all sorts of things. Such as run errands and do the guy's homework. Saiki using his powers, not only put a stop to the Kaidou-harassment, but he did so in a way that it didn't pop Kaidou's little bubble of fantasy or reveal to the white-haired boy that he was essentially being bullied.

Lotus concluded that Saiki was a tsundere person. A very very very very very tsundere person.

* * *

"Man, it's hot today." Lotus used her forearm to wipe some sweat off her forehead. She looked up at her window that was open blowing a small breeze into the room.

The pink teen stared outside seeing the blue clear sky then smiled. "It's the perfect day to get some ice cream." Lotus stood up from her desk leaving her room and heading downstairs.

She was currently the only one home right now. Ethan was off on a small excursion for inspiration and Violet was at her university doing research. Lotus slipped on some sandals and opened the front door.

"Holy crap!"

"Hey, there girl buddy!"

* * *

"Hey, buddy ready for the beach!"

Saiki looked rather displeased seeing the person who had entered his front door.

Nendou stood there in the boys home wearing a pair of sunglasses holding an inflatable blow-up whale. "I was walking by and saw the last name Saiki on the mailbox, so I thought this must be where old Kusuo lives."

Saiki's mother was for a lack of better words speechless pointing at the smiling Nendou.

After stuttering a bit she was finally able to speak. "K-K-Kusuo is this boy your friend?"

 _"He's not my friend."_

Whether she heard him or not Kusuo's mother broke out in tears.

"Oh dear, my little boy finally has a friend! I'm so happy!"

"Sorry girly girl me and him ain't friends." Nendou's words made Mrs. Saiki gasp. But then Nendou pulled Saiki to his side giving the older woman a thumbs up. "We're best buddies!"

"Oh dear, my little boy is finally getting a normal life!" Mrs. Saiki cried happily.

Nendou looked from Saiki to his mother. "I never knew you had a sister pal."

"Oh dear, he thinks I look young enough to be Kusuo's sister." Mrs. Saiki said

 _"How many times are you gonna make her cry?"_

"Huh, I didn't know you were Saiki's mom!" Nendou exclaimed

Mrs. Saiki nodded her head. "Guilty as charged. What brought you here big guy?"

"I wanted to invite my buddies to the beach," Nendou said

"Oh, that's so fun!" Mrs. Saiki squealed

 _"Wait did he just say buddies as in plural?"_

"I even brought Saiki's other good buddy." Nendou walked over to the door and pushed it open.

"Uhm hello?" Lotus stood there awkwardly in the doorway waving.

If Saiki's mother was surprised by the arrival of Nendou she was floored by the sudden appearance of Lotus. She was wearing a pair of jean shorts and a sleeveless white hoodie paired with some flipflops.

"We're just having a little chat here. Hey, guess what this young girl here is Saiki's mother." Nendou smiled pointing at a woman with black hair.

 _"What are you doing here?"_

 _"Nendou invited me to the beach. Well more like_ showed _up at my house scaring the daylights out of me. He told me he invited you too but judging by the conversation I've been listening in on he did not."_

 _"You think?"_

 _ **Now let's take a look at what happened to bring Lotus here.**_

"Hey, there girl buddy!"

Lotus was far beyond surprised when she found Nendou waiting on the other side of her front door.

"You ready to go to the beach?" Nendou asked

 _"Why are you asking me that like we planned it?"_

"Nendou how do you know where I live?" Lotus asked

"Well when I was passing by I saw your last name on the mailbox, so I thought to myself this must be where my new girl buddy lives," Nendou said

 _"That's….pretty good observational skills. I'm a bit impressed,"_ Lotus thought

"Come on it'll be fun! Our buddy Saiki's coming too!" Nendou said

 _"Saiki's coming? I wonder how Nendou managed to convince him? Maybe Saiki likes the beach. Hmmm well, it is a hot today, and summers almost over and I haven't been to the beach at all. Well if you don't include Ethan's various photo shoots."_

"Alright, Nendou just let me grab my stuff," Lotus said

"Yeah, beach day!" Nendou cheered

 _ **And that's how Lotus ended up where she is right now.**_

"I-I-I-I can't believe it!"

Lotus turned her head looking at Saiki's mother. She was once again in tears, crying even harder than before looking at Lotus in disbelief.

"Uhm hi there sorry for the intrusion. I'm Lotus."

Mrs. Saiki ran up to Lotus grabbing the girls hands her tears flowing down her cheeks like waterfalls.

 _"Are you okay?"_

"My little Kusuo has a girlfriend!"

 ** _"WHAT!?"_**

"Hey, I didn't know you two were dating congrats!" Nendou smiled giving the two pink heads a thumbs up.

 _ **"We're not!"**_

Lotus put her hands up shaking them. "Miss Saiki your son and I are just friend's no dating!" As she shook her head and hands her cheeks blushed embarrassed. She looked over at Saiki and the boy quickly darted his eyes away from Lotus's.

Even if he wouldn't admit it in a million years he too was embarrassed by the declaration that his mother made.

"You're not dating? Kusuo don't tell me you're stringing this poor girl along?" Mrs. Saiki exclaimed

 _"That's not it either!"_

"Mrs. Saiki I'm just friends with your son. He's really nice and kind also he makes me laugh. I do find him to be a really interesting individual and I really enjoy having his company. I think Saiki's actually one of the most amazing guys that I've met" Lotus said

Saiki was at a loss for words, or rather thoughts, stunned by Lotus's comments about him. She really thought of him like that?

If Lotus wasn't so focused on Saiki's mother she would have noticed his popularity meter for her appear over his head jumping up some points.

Mrs. Saiki was stunned to taking in Lotus's words about her son, before she started crying again. "My little boy is so lucky having a girl like you around! You'll make the perfect daughter-in-law someday!"

 _"What?!"_

"You'll have to come over for dinner some time dear and…."

Saiki's mother continued to talk to a slightly panicking and embarrassed Lotus.

Saiki just sighed hiding his face from the group.

"So are my buddies ready for the beach?" Nendou asked oblivious to the embarrassment floating around the room.

 _"Uh yeah, I'm not going, sorry."_

Mrs. Saiki's happy personality did a 180, and she snapped her head at Saiki her eyes going sharp and deadly.

"Your best buddy went out of his way to invite you in person. You're going to the beach Kusuo." Mrs. Saiki stated with a deadly tone that sent chills up both Saiki's and Lotus's spines.

 _"Oh dear."_

* * *

Guess it doesn't matter if you have incredible psychic powers, nothing can stand up against the powers of a mother. So, in the end, Saiki found himself at the beach. He wasn't sure how it happened but somehow Kaidou was now a part of their little excursion as well. Saiki sat on a beach blanket underneath a parasol watching Nendou and Kaidou. Lotus was off using one of the change rooms to get into her bathing suit.

Nendou, who was now in his swimsuit, seemed to be teasing Kaidou, who wasn't getting in the water.

 _"Why did Kaidou come too?"_

"What's wrong Kaidou? Fraid of the water?" Nendou teased

"No! That's not true! I know how to swim jerk! I'm not afraid of the water!" Kaidou denied, but the tears in his eyes and the sweat going down his forehead said otherwise.

 _"Well, he's turned on the waterworks."_

Kaidou took a step into the water and slipped landing on his back in a very shallow part. He proceeded to freak out and flail about like a cat that was forced to get a bath.

 _"Drowning in inch deep water isn't easy."_

"I'll save yooooouuuuu!" A loud voice screamed followed by a thunderous pound of running.

A guy did a running dive sliding into the water wrapping Kaidou in his arms, which caused his swim trunks to slide down giving the world a full view of his rear end.

 _"I know that butt."_

The one and only Kineshi Hairo has arrived on the scene.

Hairo stood up holding Kaidou's in his arms. The previously "drowning" boy laying limp in his arms.

"Hey its Hairo," Nendou stated

"Oh hey Nendou, hey Saiki," Hairo greeted

"You getting some sun too?" Nendou asked

"Actually I volunteer as a lifeguard," Hairo said

"Ahh, I'm drowning!" A gruff man yelled

It only took a millisecond for Hairo to react to the cry for help. "I'll save you!" He yelled running off.

"I can't believe he does that job for free in this heat," Nendou commented. He turned to Saiki, who was now reading a book. "Huh? When are you gonna get in the water buddy?"

 _"Just forget I'm here."_

"You guys are no fun. I don't wanna go swimming in the ocean all by myself." Nendou pulled out some sunglasses putting them on. "So to the ladies."

 _"That sounds ridiculous."_

"With a face like that, you don't have a chance!" Kaidou said

 _"Why don't you try walking on water instead. You'll have better odds at that."_

Nendou laughed wagging a finger. "My looks don't matter it's about attitude."

So Saiki and Kaidou watched the train wreck happen before them as Nendou went from girl to girl receiving rather blunt and nasty comments.

"I'm sorry but I find your face repulsive."

"Are you joking there's no way I'm giving my number to that face."

"Ever hear of a mirror you should look at one before leaving the house."

In short, Nendou scared away every girl sending them running, literally. He started chasing after them causing a horde of bikini-clad girls to run away screaming.

Saiki got in the water sitting on a floatie trying to put as much distance between himself and Nendou. _"I don't want people knowing I'm with him."_

* * *

A disheartened Nendou walked down the beach kicking up some sand.

"Isn't he just a little cutie pie!" A girl giggled

Nendou blushed looking excited thinking that the comment was directed towards him, but he was crushed when he spotted two girls fawning over Kaidou.

"Oh, I love his spiky hairdo."

"Don't touch my hair please leave me alone," Kaidou said but his blush face said the opposite.

That's when a dark-faced Nendou appeared looming over the three.

"I just remembered I had to move my car!"

"Yeah me too!"

The two girls vanished right as Nendou pounced on Kaidou.

Hairo came to Kaidou's rescue, but after Nendou had buried him up to his head in sand.

"How could you do this to me Nendou?!" Kaidou shouted

"Hey, guys sorry I took so long! There was a long line for the changing room!" A lively voice called out.

Every male in the vicinity froze at the sight before them stunned by a bikini wearing Lotus, and her swimsuit fit her perfectly. The top of her bikini was a high neck with an open back and it was pink, with a heart pattern cut out in the center. Her bottoms were light blue with bows on tied on the side. What really sold everything was the pose Lotus was unknowingly in. She was standing tall and elegantly hands on her hips, as if she was waiting for someone to snap a photo of her. Now, this isn't the girl's fault whenever summer rolls around Ethan creates a ton of swimsuits and of course Lotus and Violet model nearly all of them. She's done it so much that whenever she or her sister get into a swimsuit they just naturally stand ready for a photo shoot.

Without even realizing it herself she strutted over to her friends as if she was going down a runway, dozens of eyes following her.

"Oh hey, Kaidou and Hairo are here too." Lotus smiled. "But uhm….Kaidou what are you doing in the sand?"

"It's the lovely princess Lotus! Coming to grace us with her presence!" Kaidou exclaimed happily even though he was still neck-deep in sand.

 _"Wait, what? Princess? So he's now including me in his world of fantasy too huh."_

"Looking good there girl buddy. Really pretty!" Nendou smiled

 _"Nendou….I don't even know what to say to that."_

Deciding Nendou didn't deserve any harsh backlash Lotus smiled as she rubbed the back of her head. "Thanks. It's just a swimsuit my brother made." Lotus looked around not seeing another pink head in the area. "Where's Saiki?"

"I don't know the bathroom?" Nendou suggested

Unbeknownst to the group of high schoolers, Saiki had abandoned his floatie to sink in the water laying on the ocean floor.

He found the bottom of the seafloor relaxing although….laying just a few feet away form Saiki was a skeleton that was weighed down by a ball and chain.

On dry land, Nendou decided to voice his questioning whereabouts about his missing friends.

"Saiki! You going pee pee!?" Nendou called out

 _"Geeze."_ Lotus shook her head _"Saiki you better get back here before Nendou does anything else."_

 _"Aw man, next time I'll have to go deeper."_ Saiki sat up and started swimming back up to the surface. _"Better go back before they start looking."_

 _ **Up on shore**_

"Hey what's that girl doing!?" Someone shouted pointing at a girl who was struggling in the water her face signaling she was in trouble.

"I think she's drowning!" Nendou dived into the water swimming to the girls' rescue. "Kaidou I'll go rescue her you go get Hairo!"

"Wait up!" Kaidou appeared next to Nendou swimming too.

"Oh so you can swim," Nendou said

Kaidou stopped looking confused before he started sinking in the water.

"Kaidou?"

 _"Really now?"_

* * *

So Nendou had to put Kaidou on his back while he swam to go rescue the girl.

"No save her I can take care of myself," Kaidou said

"No way. I'm more than strong enough to save you both." True to his word Nendou was able to grab the girl while still having Kaidou on his back. "I rock!"

Lotus smiled from her viewpoint on the shore. _"Well, Nendou you may be an idiot but I guess your big heart makes up for it."_

Hairo finally arrived swimming towards Nendou. "Hey need help!"

"I can't take both! Can you bring one back?" Nendou asked

"Yeah, that's my job-gah! Leg cramping!" And there goes Hairo sinking into the water.

 _"Seriously?!"_

"Hairo!"

* * *

Now Nendou had three people on his back trying to swim to shore. "Now I gotta do all three!"

Hairo coughed out a bit of sea water, "I'm sorry dude."

 _"What a pain. Everyone around me is so needy."_

"Hmmm, where is Saiki? Judging by the tone in his words he's going to help out."

Nendou strained trying to swim. "So heavy!"

"Don't cramp bro!" Hairo said

"Leave me!" Kaidou said

"Shut up!" Nendou said

"Come on Nendou you can do it!" Lotus cheered from the shore.

Although happy for the support Nendou couldn't continue on. "Oh no, we're sinking!"

His head was halfway in the water but then something miraculous happened his body sprung out of the water standing upright.

"Uh?"

"Nendou you're walking on water! When did you learn how to do that?!" Kaidou shouted

 _"Yup that's definitely Saiki's doing."_

And Lotus was right, underwater holding Nendou's feet was Saiki.

 _"See I told him he'd have more luck walking on water than picking up girls."_

Saiki guided Nendou's feet taking him to shore.

 _"Well at least-"_

"Help my friend is drowning!" Came a high-pitched shout.

 _"What!?"_

Lotus looked to her left to see a blonde guy around her age, wading in the edge of the shore waving his arms around pointing out to the sea. In the water was a blue-haired boy not doing so well in the water, he seemed to be trying to swim but it was clear he didn't know how.

 _"What is going on here?! Is today drown in the ocean day or something?!"_

Lotus ran getting next to the blonde who was shouting for his friend.

"Please help he can't swim!"

 _"Then why is he in the water?!"_

"I'm on it!" Lotus dove into the water swimming.

"Whoa, she's fast!" The blonde said amazed.

Lotus easily swam through the water with no trouble. Swimming was an excellent sport and a great way to stay in shape, so it was an activity that she often did. Within no time she reached the drowning guy hooking her arms underneath his.

"Don't worry now-"

The boy stopped moving and looked up. His body went limp as he stared at Lotus his eyes glazing over as if he had fallen under some kind of spell.

"-I got you," Lotus reassured the guy as she started pulling him to shore.

 _"Normally I'd have a difficult time pulling something this heavy through the water. But with the use of psychic powers, he's as light as a feather."_

 _ **Meanwhile, a little ways down the beach.**_

Nendou was being thanked by the girl he had saved. She also apologized to Nendou too, having been one of the girls who had made a rude remark about his face.

When the girl left, the boys finally noticed they were missing someone in their group.

"Hey, where's Lotus?" Hairo asked

The guys looked around searching for the girl but couldn't seem to find her.

"The lovely fair-haired princess Lotus has been carted away by some no good beach thugs. So I the Jet Black Wings must go rescue her!" Kaidou declared

 _"Sometimes I wonder how your mind comes up with these things and now she's the lovely fair-haired princess. How many adjectives are you gonna tack onto her name?"_

"Maybe she went to go get something to eat?" Nendou pondered

"She's got him! She's got him!" A male voice cheered

The boy's attention turned to the cheering and down the beach shore, they saw Lotus pulling a boy to shore.

"Whoa did she rescue someone too?!" Hairo exclaimed

* * *

Lotus pulled the boy onto the shore lying him on the sand. His worried blonde friend crouched next to her as the boy laid still with his eyes closed.

 _"~This girl she's so cute. It was embarrassing that I couldn't swim, but it's worth it if I can get rescued by a cute girl like this.~"_

 _"Well, he seems alright to me."_

 _"~Maybe if I don't move and keep my eyes closed she'll give me CPR.~"_

Lotus's twitched in anger glaring down at the boy she had saved. _"I should hit him! But it'll look weird if I hit a guy I just saved from drowning."_

It didn't help when the guys' friend started freaking out next to Lotus when he didn't move or open his eyes. "He's not moving! Is he breathing!? Miss, please you need to give him CPR!"

 _"~Shima I always called you an idiot but today I give you my thanks.~"_ The supposedly CPR needing boy thought.

Lotus jerked again in anger feeling a vein in her forehead twitch.

At that moment a rogue wave at least six feet tall crashed down on the three. When the water receded all three were soaked sitting up coughing from the sudden onslaught of water, that included the perverted drowning victim.

"Maru you're okay!" Shima cheered wrapping his arms around his friend.

 _"~I was so close,~"_ Maru thought depressed.

Maru sat there rather dismayed, his friend oblivious to the whole thing.

 _"Well, that takes care of that. But I wonder where that wave came from?"_

Standing at a good distance away was Saiki, his hand held out. Using his psychic powers he had been the one who caused the wave.

Nendou, Kaidou, and Hairo ran over congratulating the girl on her heroic deed as they gave her a towel to dry off. Lotus also congratulated Nendou on his impressive heroic feats.

* * *

The sun was starting to set and it was a rather lovely sight to see on the beach.

"Hmm, I'm glad you didn't ask for her number in return for your heroics," Kaidou said to Nendou.

"I try to be a gentleman but if that hottie fell in love with me I'm not gonna turn her down," Nendou said

"She wouldn't," Kaidou smiled as he whispered

"What did you say?!" Nendou shouted

 _"But he did get a secret admirer."_

 _"~Riki Nendou you're my hero I love everything about you!~"_ Hairo thought, with pure admiration tears falling down his cheeks from how moved he was.

 _"This guy."_

"Hey, girl buddy it was amazing how you pulled that guy out of the water!" Nendou commented

"Oh, it was nothing! I mean you saved three people at once," Lotus said

"It turns out that the lovely fair-haired princess Lotus is actually a secret warrior queen underneath, whenever she hears someone cry out in trouble she transforms and saves those in need," Kaidou whispered

 _"He's so ridiculous."_

 _"You gotta admit if he started writing down his thoughts he could create a good story series."_

"I know as a celebration let's get ramen!" Nendou said

"There's not even a ramen shop near here!" Kaidou said

The two boys went back and forth as Saiki and Lotus just watched.

* * *

Maru, the boy Lotus had rescued, was packing up his beach supplies. As he folded up a beach towel his friend showed.

"Hey, Shima where'd you go?" Maru asked

"I asked that pretty pink haired girl who rescued you to go out!" Shima smiled

"You what?!" Maru shouted grabbing his friend's shoulder shaking him. "Why would you do that?! Shima, I thought you were my friend!"

"I wanted to thank her for saving you. I thought you'd want to too. So I suggested all three of us go out for cake!" Shima said

"All three..of us? So that means I'll get to see her again," Maru mumbled

Shima nodded his head. "Look I even got her number, so we can set up a time and pick a day."

"Shima…." Maru brought his friend into a bone-crushing hug. "You genius idiot!"

Shima not sure was going on just smiled happy that his friend was happy.

* * *

In the end, Saiki, Lotus, Nendou, and Kaidou agreed on going to a food stall right on the beach, it was a nice okonomiyaki place that used fresh seafood caught right in the ocean next to them.

"This looks so good!" Lotus smiled her eyes sparkling as she stared at the food.

 _"~So cute.~"_ Were the thoughts of Nendou and Kaidou seeing Lotus's face.

"Okay guys, what kinds of okonomiyaki's should we make?" Lotus asked

"Squid!" Nendou said

"Octopus!" Kaidou said

"Squid!"

"Octopus!"

"Squid!"

"Octopus!"

 _"They do know we can make both right?"_

Lotus looked at her pink haired companion. "What kind do you want Saiki?"

 _"Shrimp."_

"Shrimp its is." Lotus grabbed a ladle pouring some batter on the grill getting ready to make the first okonomiyaki.

"You can cook?" Nendou asked

Lotus nodded her head. "I've been cooking since I was little. I also cook all the meals in my house. So leave it to me to cook your guys okonomiyaki, I actually really like cooking and it makes me happy when people enjoy it."

Lotus smiled and an arrow appeared over her head with the words, **"Housewife in the making."**

* * *

Going home was rather easy, well for Lotus and Saiki that is. Once the group split up Saiki teleported the two home.

Lotus smiled at Saiki as they stood in the street between their two residences.

"Although I know you didn't wanna come to the beach I'm glad you did." Lotus walked to her door and waved at Saiki. "I had fun today Saiki!"

Saiki didn't move until Lotus was in her house even stayed a little bit longer after that too.


	10. Lotus Makes a New Friend

_This is Lotus_

 _This is Saiki_

 ** _This is Saiki and Lotus together_**

 _~This is the thoughts of others~_

 **Lotus Makes a New Friend - Even Animals Are Oddly Colored!**

Summer break was drawing to an end, that is why Lotus was out in the city doing some exploring. She wasn't going to spend her last free day of the summer laying about around the house, especially since she spent most of her summer with Ethan and Violet, the two woman having modeled dozens of summer outfits. She was happy to help but man was it tiring.

Speaking of outfits Lotus was wearing some loose tan capris with a bow belt and a loose white blouse that had a deep v-neck. Due to the summer heat she had her hair pulled up into a messy bun.

Currently, Lotus was passing by a few boutiques and clothing stores. She didn't give a second glance at the clothing stores. Ethan made all the outfits for her and her sister, so there was no need to do any shopping in those types of stores. No, Lotus's target today was the local Pop Culture store where they sell the best Collectibles and Manga.

 _"~Unhand me!~"_

Lotus paused in her venture when she heard someone's outcry of thoughts.

 _"Huh?"_

 _"~I said unhand me you fiends!~"_

 _"~Man he won't quit squirming!~"_ A second persons thoughts sounded

 _"Is a foreigner getting mugged?"_

Using her psychic powers Lotus was able to locate the source of the thoughts finding herself at the entrance of an alleyway. She peeked into the narrow area spotting three young men huddled together.

 _"What are they doing? I don't see anyone being hurt."_

"Man this thing is weird," One guy with a nose ring said

"What is it again?" A guy with a green buzz cut asked

"I don't know, I heard some people keep them as pets," A guy wearing white sunglasses answered

 _"Pets? Wait do they have-?!"_

The guy wearing sunglasses shook his arm up and down, and she heard a sharp growl like wail.

 _"~Scoundrels release me!~"_

Lotus's eyes widened and she finally realized where the distressed voice was coming from. _"It wasn't a person who was being hurt it was an animal!"_

Lotus didn't take very kindly to those who preyed on others it didn't matter if it was a person or an animal something like this she wouldn't stand for.

Lotus stepped into the entrance of the alleyway. "Hey let go of that…." Lotus blinked seeing the animal Sunglasses was holding. _"Is that a blue ferret?"_

Indeed being held upside down by its tail was a periwinkle blue ferret.

"Let go of that oddly colored ferret!" Lotus shouted pointing at the guys.

The three guys paused looking confused then they smirked as they took in Lotus. All having rather unpleasant and inappropriate thoughts about Lotus, which can not and should not be repeated.

Nose Ring stepped forward, "Hey cutie what brings you around here?"

Lotus narrowed her eyes glaring at him. "It doesn't matter why I'm here. I want you to let go of that animal."

"What? This thing?" Sunglasses held up the ferret shaking it some more.

 _"~That hurts you cretin!~"_ The animal flailed back and forth obviously trying to get out of the guys hold.

"Hey stop that you're hurting him!" Lotus shouted

Buzzcut smirked laughing, "It's just some dumb animal what does it matter what we do to it?"

"It still feels pain, doesn't it! What your doing is just cruel!" Lotus said

"Hey hey hey," Nose Ring stepped forward putting his hands up. "No need to get all angry cutie. How about we just ditch this raggedy thing in one of these trash cans here and we can all go get something to eat. Our treat."

 _"Like I'd even go anywhere with you three."_

Lotus looks at one of the trashcan's in the alleyway and takes one of the lids off.

"What are you gonna do with that?" Sunglasses smirked

 _"Let's hope this works."_

Lotus flung the trash can lid like a discus and it flew right by one of the guys' heads.

"Ha, you mis-!"

 _ ***CRASH***_

Buzzcut was promptly cut off as a loud crash exploded from behind him and his friends. The three punks slowly turned around and they all paled. Sticking out of the brick wall was the trashcan lid Lotus had thrown. The guys slowly turned back to Lotus who looked confused.

On the inside, Lotus was sweat dropping at what she had done. _"Guess I put a bit too much psychic energy into that one. But those guys don't need to know that."_

"Huh looks like I missed," Lotus said

"WHAT!?" The three guys yelled

"That could have been my face!" Buzzcut yelled

"This chick is insane!" Nose ring yelled

"No stupid animal is worth getting my teeth smashed in! I just got my braces off!" Sunglasses yelled

The three guys ran out of the alleyway and Sunglasses threw the ferret on his way. Lotus dove onto the dirty ground catching the animal. She stood up holding it close to her.

 _"Don't worry now, I got you."_ She said using telepathy to talk to the animal.

 _"~You have my deepest thanks, I am eternally indebted to you…~"_ The ferret thought back.

Lotus smiled and gave a small giggle. _"Who knew I'd spend my last day of summer vacation rescuing a blue ferret with a British accent."_

* * *

The front door to the Yamaguchi household opens and Lotus walked in.

"Little Lotus welcome home!" Ethan cried running to Lotus. He was about to give the pink haired girl a hug but something sprung out of Lotus's arms and latched onto Ethan's hand. The ferret had leapt out of Lotus's arms in order to sink its teeth into Ethan's hand.

It took a second for Ethan to register what had happened but once the pain set in he freaked out.

"Ahhhh! Get him off! Get him off!" Ethan screamed swinging his arm trying to shake the furry creature off.

"Ethan calm down! Sir Henry let him go that's my brother!" Lotus said

The ferret unlatched itself from Ethan and scampered over to Lotus, who picked him back up.

"Lotus quick get rid of that dangerous thing before it hurts you!" Ethan shouted cradling his hand.

 _"~This one is loud.~"_

"Ethan its okay he was just a little startled that's all. This here is Sir Henry." Lotus gave the ferret a scratch on the head. "I rescued him earlier today."

"Rescued?" Ethan pondered out loud.

Lotus told Ethan the story of how she had saved Sir Henry from some rather unsavory individuals.

"Little Lotus are you okay!? Your not hurt are you!? I can't believe you were cornered by some ferocious beast and neither I nor Violet were there to defend you!" Ethan cried

 _"I think he's missing the whole reason why I told him that story."_

Ethan pulled Lotus into a tight hug, "If you need to we can take you to the hospital! Or do you need therapy I know your fragile innocent mind must be scarred from just being in the mere presence of those not good vandals!"

 _"I'm not made of glass you know and I do_ workout _. I don't need any of those things, those guys didn't even touch me."_

Lotus just relaxed in Ethan's hold allowing him to fret and worry over her to his heart's content. It may be a bit annoying but it showed he cared. Lotus was just worried how Violet would react when she got home and she told her about what happened today.

After Ethan finally let go of Lotus she stepped back before gesturing to the ferret. " I wanted to keep Sir Henry here. I think he would make a nice addition to the family. What do you think?" Lotus asked

Ethan stared at Lotus then smiled. "Oh, how could I say no to Lotus when she did such a heroic deed to save this creature!"

 _"~He is extremely loud.~"_

Sir Henry wiggled out of Lotus's hold and made his way up her arms laying across her neck like a scarf.

Ethan gave a small chuckle watching the two. "The shade of blue of his fur goes well with your hair. He makes the perfect accessory."

Lotus laughed. "You think so? Looks like you may be included in my winter wear, Sir Henry."

"Sir Henry? How did you come up with that name?" Ethan asked Lotus.

"Oh, I didn't come up with it. It's his name, he told me," Lotus said

"You can talk to animals now!?" Ethan exclaimed. "Little Lotus gets more and more amazing each day."

"Well I don't exactly talk to animals but I use telepathy. I can hear their thoughts and transfer mine thoughts to them so we can understand one another," Lotus said

"Still little Lotus is amazing!" Ethan said

Lotus gave a smile playfully rolling her eyes.

Suddenly Ethan gasped as if remembering something important before he started crying.

"What's wrong? Does the bite still hurt?" Lotus asked

Ethan shook his head no.

"Then why are you crying?" Lotus asked

"Little Lotus called me her brother! I'm so happy!" Ethan cried

 _"You...are so ridiculous."_

* * *

 _"~This is truly enjoyable~"_

Lotus smiled as she sat on her knees giving Sir Henry a bath. Sir Henry gave a purring like noise as Lotus scrubbed his fur with shampoo getting out all the dirt.

"OK time to rinse off." Lotus grabbed a small basin of water and slowly poured some warm water on Sir Henry rinsing out all the suds.

 _"There isn't that much better?"_

 _"~Very. I have not had a proper wash in quite some time.~"_

Lotus giggled liking the way Sir Henry talked, it was so proper and formal.

 _ ***SLAM***_

"Lotus!"

The bathroom door was kicked open and Lotus screamed as Sir Henry jumped, the two startled.

"Ahhh!"

Both Lotus and Sir Henry slipped in water falling over themselves onto the bathroom tile.

"Lotus!"

A very worried and frantic Violet stood in the doorway, behind her was Ethan. Violet ran to her little sister pulling her into a bone-crushing hug.

"So what Ethan told me was true! You risked your life going against three dangerous deadly men who were out to taint your innocence to unselfishly rescue a poor defenseless wounded creature?!" Violet cried

Lotus looked at Ethan. "What the heck did you tell her?!"

"Lotus I want you to give me an accurate description of what those punks looked like!" Violet said

 _"Uhm I'm afraid to ask why."_

"How come?" Lotus nervously asked her sister.

A dark aura surrounded Violet as a cold chill ran through the room. "So I can hunt down and destroy those who dare to lay a single finger on my cute little sister. They must pay!"

 _"Please don't!"_

"Ethan get me my pervert dismemberer!" Violet shouted

Ethan gave his fiancee a salute. "Can do my love!"

 _"DON'T!"_

* * *

After some difficult convincing, Lotus was able to calm down her sister enough that she wasn't going to run out of the house on a mission to totally annihilate three guys. But Violet's thoughts still raged and Lotus could hear all the horrible things her sister had in store for the guys if she ever got her hands on them.

Lotus sighed after slipping into her pajamas.

 _"Today sure was eventful,"_ Lotus looked over her shoulder seeing a cute Sir Henry curled up on her floor. _"But I don't regret it."_

Lotus smiled as she grabbed a large pillow and fluffed it up before putting it in a basket.

 _"We don't have any pet beds so I hope this will do for now,"_ Lotus said

Sir Henry approached the put together sleeping area and put his paws into the soft cushion of the pillow.

 _"~This more than sufficient enough. Thank you, young Mistress~"_

 _"You know you don't have to call me that."_

 _"~But what else would I call the young lady who came to my rescue?~ "_

The blue ferret thought that with such seriousness Lotus had to hold back her laughs.

 _"Here,"_ Lotus pulled out a small blanket big enough to cover the basket. _"I even got you a small blanket in case you get cold."_

 _"~Much obliged~"_

Lotus laid the blanket on top of the basket and Sir Henry crawled in burying himself under the soft and warm embrace of the blanket.

Lotus smiled before turning off her lights and lying down in her bed.

 _"Goodnight Sir Henry."_

 _"~Goodnight young Mistress.~"_


	11. The Melancholy of Nendou

**lonelysage -** _It's just to show that Lotus does have her own life and that her world doesn't fully revolve around Saiki._

 **Huang Bai Lian -** _They'll come just keep reading._

 **Paige McCarthy -** _Glad you like it. I don't know that much about British people, so Sir Henry's behavior mannerism is based off a Biritsh friend I worked with. If you'd like to feel free to give any tips or adivce to make Sir Henry more true to being British._

 **Kizuna Hikari -** _Glad I could lift your spirits. Don't worry I got a sudden bout of inspiration so more chapters are to come._

* * *

 _This is Lotus_

 _This is Saiki_

 ** _This Lotus and Saiki together_**

 _~This is the thoughts of others~_

 **The Melancholy of Nendou - Cakes and Flowers Make For Perfect Bait!**

Summer vacation came to an end which meant only one thing for young teenagers, the start of a new term of school.

Lotus sat at her desk divulging herself in a new issue of manga, although it was kind of hard since all of her classmate's thoughts were buzzing as they discussed and chatted about the various things they did over summer break. Saiki sat next to Lotus staying as silent as always trying to avoid any unnecessary attention.

"Hairo you got tan."

Hairo was surrounded by a group of his friends as they all comment on the impressive tan he was sporting.

"Yeah I volunteered at the beach as a lifeguard," Hairo said

 _"Hairo must have been working at the beach every day. Hope he used enough sunscreen."_

"No way you have a crush on someone!"

Teruhashi was surrounded by a group of boys and all of them seemed to be freaking out over the fact that she had a crush.

"Teruhashi who is it?!"

"Is it one of us?!"

"Its someone I ran into over vacation," Teruhashi said

 _"She's got a crush huh? The guy must have come from a rich family for Teruhashi to show interest."_

That's what Lotus thought until the blue haired girl discreetly turned her gaze to Saiki giggling in her mind.

 _"~You know who I mean right. I know he wasn't a figment of my imagination~"_ Teruhashi thought

 _"Why did she think that in such a dark tone?"_

Teruhashi put a finger up. "It was the sixth of August when I first fell in love with him." She declared.

 _"~That's a day you won't forget either, Saiki!~"_ Teruhashi thought

Lotus snorted holding back her laughter hiding her face behind her manga. Teruhashi kept replaying in her mind her rather hilarious "love" encounter with Saiki, and Lotus couldn't stop herself from laughing. Her shoulders shook as she tried her best to keep the giggling quiet.

 _"Way to go lover boy."_ Lotus giggled in her head.

 _"Quiet you."_ Saiki thought back.

A black haired boy next to Teruhashi blinked then spoke up. "I remember seeing you that day too and the guy you were talking with…."

Teruhashi paused clenching a fist giving a small gasp afraid that her "secret crush" was going to be exposed.

"Was Nendou!" The boy announced

"You are way off idiot!" Teruhashi shouted, her hair flared around her head in anger, and she had a sharp glare on her face. She quickly stopped realizing what she was doing and with some lighting quick thinking she fixed the situation from her sudden outburst. Her face went back to the sweet Teruhashi, and she gave the boys a charming smile. "Yeah, his name is Yurwei Offdjot! He's a Russian exchange student."

 _" Nope."_

Teruhashi was drowned out when Kaidou walked over to Saiki and Lotus's desk.

"Guys is it just me or is Nendou acting weird today?" Kaidou said

 _"Your the one being weird."_

 _"And how the heck did you get past Matsuzaki in that getup?"_

Kaidou had a rather unique new-look. He was wearing a black eye patch over his left eye, had a single braid, plus a black choker collar around his neck, and to finish off the new-look the edges of his shirt had been cut to give it a more rough look.

Ignoring the odd outfitted Kaidou Saiki and Lotus turned their attention to Nendou. He was sitting by himself at his desk with a thoughtful look.

"Like usually he says stuff like 'We should do stuff after school buddy'," Kaidou said

 _"He is quieter than normal."_

 _"It's actually a bit unsettling with Nendou being so quiet."_

"Oh my look don't worry about it," Kaidou suddenly said going off topic of what they had been talking about. "It's a long story."

 _"I'm not worried about it. I just think its stupid."_

Nendou covered his face then let out a depressing sigh.

 _"What's that all about?"_

 _"I don't know but this is really starting to bother me."_

Nendou stood up from his desk and walked out of the room at a slow pace dragging his feet.

"That's fishy right?" Kaidou said

 _"My interest is peaked."_

 _"Mine as well."_

"Alright alright, I'll tell you," Kaidou pointed at his eye patch, once again veering the conversation in a subject they were not focused on.

 _"Stop it I don't care about your new look!"_

* * *

After school Kaidou, Lotus, and Saiki followed Nendou with the intent to discover the sudden change in his attitude. Kaidou had dawned a disguise, wearing a hat, a jacket, and some sunglasses. He ran from alleyway to alleyway as he tailed Nendou.

Saiki and Lotus, on the other hand, followed Kaidou's lead, but they weren't wearing any disguises and instead of running to and fro from each alleyway Saiki allowed Lotus to hold onto his shoulder as he teleported the two behind Kaidou.

"His house isn't this way. He's got something going on." Kaidou said

 _"Why are you so excited by this?"_

Kaidou reached into his bag and in one quick swoop, he had changed outfits. He wore a new jacket, new sunglasses, and a beanie hat.

 _"And why are you so good at tailing people?"_

 _"That quick change was impressive."_

Nendou stopped walking and seemed to be staring at something.

"Hey, Saiki, Lotus check it. What is Nendou looking at?" Kaidou said

Lotus and Saiki stuck their heads out of the alleyway they were hiding in looking at the buzz cut blonde.

Coming out of a convenience store with her father as a small giggling girl. Nendou stared at the two making a rather disturbing look while chuckling.

 _"~CREEPY!~"_

 ** _"CREEPY!"_**

That was the groups one thought on the scene before them.

"Nendou has a thing for little girls?" Kaidou said in a creeped out tone.

 _"There's no way! Nendou's a lot of things but being 'that' kind of guy? I can't believe it!"_

 _"This doesn't look good, we should call the police."_

"He's going into a store," Kaidou pointed out.

Nendou walked into a shop and the sign overhead read "Flower Shop Jason".

"Looks like a flower boutique," Kaidou said

A few minutes later Nendou came out with a small bouquet of sunflowers.

"Don't tell me he's got a girl-"

"No not Nendou." All three concluded

Nendou continued on unaware of the three people following him. He stopped again when a little girl giggling on her father's shoulders came into view. He once again made that creepy face.

 ** _"Another one!?"_**

 _"~Another one!?~"_

 _"That look is seriously giving me the chills."_

"That's just gross," Kaidou said

 _"We'll confirm it after we call the police."_

Kaidou changed outfits again now wearing a dark shirt and a top hat. "No, we need more proof than this. I mean lots of people like sunflowers and its natural to smile when you see a cute little kid, right."

 _"Good point let's not be rash."_

"Also Nendou does naturally have a scary look, he's probably making that creepy face without even realizing it. The first time I met Nendou I was alarmed thinking he was gonna do something creepy or bad, but I was totally off," Lotus added

 _"Another good point."_

Nendou continued walking heading into another store.

"Hmm, another shop." Kaidou looked up reading the store sign. "Cakes! Women and children can't resist sweet treats, and when you combine a woman and a child you get a little girl!"

 _"Now you're jumping to conclusions."_

"Yeah, I mean everyone has a sweet tooth every once in a while," Lotus said

"Have you ever seen Nendou eat that?! Or like flowers?! It's all meant to be given to someone, but he has no girlfriend to give them to. That can only mean one thing! They're bait, and he's using them to lure away little girls!" Kaidou cried

Lotus and Saiki saw Kaidou's image of Nendou dressed up in sunflowers sporting a rather creepy facial expression holding up some cake.

Lotus shivered at the mental visual. _"If I saw that I'd run the other way."_

 _"Yeah, the little girl it works on has her own problems."_

Nendou walked back out of the store holding a small cake box. "Bummer they were all out of shortcake. Oh well." Nendou leered looking down at the cake box. "It's not like anyone will ever eat this."

 _"~If it's not for eating it must be bait!~"_

 ** _"If it's not for eating it must be bait!"_**

"Guys we have to stop Nendou before he does something terrible!" Lotus declared

"Warrior Queen Princess Lotus is right!" Kaidou ran out from their hiding spot heading for Nendou. "Nendou!" He shouted causing the taller teen to turn around. "Your secret is out!" Kaidou charged holding his fist up going to punch Nendou but….he just ended up batting his fist against Nendou's chest like a kitten tapping around a ball of yarn. "How dare you hurt little kids. You monster!" Each punch made a popping noise like bubbles popping.

 _"Is that what his punches sound like?"_

"Wait what secret? You mean my dad?" Nendou questioned

Everyone froze at Nendou's words, including Lotus who was sneaking up behind Nendou holding her arm up in karate stance ready to neck chop and knockout Nendou.

She quickly pulled her arm back hiding it behind her back giving an awkward smile.

* * *

Nendou took his friends to his father's grave, he set up the sunflowers around the gravestone and lit some incense.

"So he's dead?" Kaidou asked

"I visit him every year on the anniversary of his bus accident," Nendou stated

"What about the flowers and the cake?" Kaidou questioned

"Respectful offerings to the dead. It's normal to bring cakes and flowers to a family grave," Nendou said

 _"To think Nendou's lecturing us on normal. I get it now, those weren't creepy looks he was giving. Seeing cute kids with their dads just made him think of his own. Nendou has a very misleading face."_

Saiki suddenly heard sniffling and turned to see Lotus crying.

 _"Why are you crying?"_

"I feel sad about Nendou's father but I'm also just really relieved Nendou's not _'that'_ kind of pervert."

"When did your dad die Nendou?" Kaidou asked

"Well, it was before I was born. He died trying to save a little girl who had run in front of a bus. Huh maybe he was into little girls," Nendou said

"Hope not," Kaidou awkwardly chuckled

 _"That's a dark joke."_

 _Lotus sweatdropped at that. "Yeah, I….don't know what to say to that."_

"So if he died before you were born he must have been pretty young," Kaidou said

"He was only 18 or 19 years old," Nendou said

 _"Nendou's parent were married, right? Whoa, what a young age to start a family."_

"Here look I got his picture." Nendou held out a photo.

"Hey, this is just a picture of you!" Kaidou said

Nendou smiled, "Nah it's him. My mom says I look more like him each year weird."

"You don't look like him, your the same!" Kaidou exclaimed

Lotus was just as stunned by the picture of Nendou's father. "Are you sure he wasn't your older brother or something. The likeness of this is too much."

"Haha, your sure are funny girl buddy!" Nendou laughed

 _"I heard about kids taking after their parents but this is crazy. You'd think Nendou was a clone or something."_

 _"The only difference is Nendou has a scar over his left eye his father had one over his right."_

The sound of chewing caught Lotus and Saiki's attention, and they saw Nendou eating the cake.

"Nendou didn't you say that cake was for-!"

Lotus stopped talking when she noticed the scar wasn't over Nendou's left eye but his right. Her mind froze when she also realized this Nendou was sitting on top of the grace wearing white robes, the typical robes considered for the dead.

"Cake," Nendou's father hummed while chewing on the sweet treat.

Lotus and Saiki locked eyes with the man, the two completely still not being able to process what they were seeing.

Nendou's father stared at the two for a few seconds before he poofed away in a cloud of smoke. Both Saiki and Lotus stood there wide-eyed.

 _"That's not a real ghost right?"_

 _"Saiki did you-?"_

 _"I saw nothing."_

 _"But I-?"_

 _"You saw nothing."_

 _"But-?"_

 _"We saw nothing."_

 _". . . Okay."_

"Come on guys lets go get some Ramen!" Nendou called out.

* * *

Saiki and Lotus walked home in silence that is until Lotus couldn't take it anymore.

"Saiki come on man I'm freaking out here! Did we or did we not just see a ghost!?" Lotus exclaimed.

 _"My powers are supernatural but personally I don't believe in ghost, so let's just pretend what happened at the graveyard never happened."_

"That doesn't make me feel better!" Lotus groaned

* * *

Lotus was laughing having a good time, something she seriously needed after today's events. Out of all the supernatural things she thought she'd experience, ghost was not on her list.

"Haha, you almost got it, Sir Henry!" Lotus giggled

 _"~This is quite vexing but I shall prevail!~"_

Lotus laughed some more as she waved around a cat toy in front of Sir Henry. The ferret bounded around trying to catch the fluffy object at the end of the stick.

"Lotus! Sir Henry! Come here I have something to show you two!" Ethan's voice rang through the house.

"Ethan?" Lotus set down the toy letting it go limp on the ground.

 _"~I got you now!~"_

Sir Henry pounced going for the now non-moving toy but before he could grasp it Lotus picked up the animal carrying him out of the room. She walked to Ethan's workroom going inside.

"What's up, Ethan?" Lotus asked walking into the room seeing Ethan along with her sister.

"I've got a surprise for the new member of the family!" Ethan beamed

"What is it?" Lotus asked

"Yes yes, I want to know too! Don't keep us in suspense!" Violet said

"Ta-da!" Ethan pulled out a small light pink woven collar. Attached to the front of the collar was a silver charm with Sir Henry Yamaguchi etched into the front. "Its a collar for Sir Henry! Look the pendant on the front has got his name and the back has got our address just in case he gets lost."

 _"Ethan…."_

"Ethan that's so kind of you," Violet gave a soft smile. "And that shade of pink is just like Lotus's hair."

"I know right. I thought since the color of Sir Henry's fur paired so well with the shade of pink of Lotus's hair that I'd make a collar that color. That way everyone one will know that he belongs to our little Lotus." Ethan explained.

"Thank you, Ethan its….I really appreciate it," Lotus thanked smiling.

 _"~It's quite charming.~"_

"Let's put it on, see how it fits," Violet grinned

Ethan slipped the collar around Sir Henry's furry neck, the pink woven fabric matched nicely with Sir Henry's periwinkle fur and the silver ID tag glinted with a nice polished finish.

"Wow, Ethan it looks great!" Lotus praised

"Excellent my darling!" Violet praised too.

Ethan blushed rubbing the back of his head looking quite happy. "Having both my lovely goddess Violet and my sweet little Lotus praise me so, I think I might explode from sheer happiness! I was going to add them to my collection and sale them."

"They're going to sell great Ethan!" Lotus smiled. "I bet every pet owner is gonna want to custom order one. You'll be getting a whole new slew of customers. You'll be able to expand and get that shop sooner than you planned."

"She's right Ethan!" Violet added

"Ahh, I'm so lucky!" Ethan gushed from all the praise.

Sir Henry pawed at the silver ID tag dangling from his new collar seeming to enjoy the new adornment.

"Sir Henry Yamaguchi, I think it's got a nice ring to it. Sounds so fancy and regal," Violet said

"Right right!" Ethan nodded his head agreeing. "Next I'm gonna make Sir Henry his own bed. I was also thinking about making some more collars for the changing seasons."

Ethan and Violet enthusiastically discussed the various new things that Ethan could create for Sir Henry.

 _"They always take everything to the extreme but it's great that they're so taken with him. Guess your officially a part of the Yamamoto family Sir Henry….good luck."_


	12. Psychic Medium

_**Paige McCarthy -** You are totally right I got the last names mixed up. I went back and fixed it. I'll try and remember those tips for Sir Henry. I don't know about the kettle thing, I know in Japan tea is drunk often. So they might have a proper kettle or teapot._

 ** _Kizuna Hikari -_** _You are right too, I messed up the name. I've gone back and fixed it, hopefully, got them all._

* * *

 _This is Lotus_

 _This is Saiki_

 ** _This is Saiki and Lotus_**

 _~This is the thoughts of others~_

 **Psychic Medium! - Ghost are Everywhere! Don't Forget Guardian Spirits Too!**

 _"Saiki!"_

Saiki turned around and saw a fast pink blur hurtling towards him.

 _"Is that Lotus?"_

Lotus reached Saiki quickly and hid behind the boy. She was panting and sweaty, her faced flushed, clearly from all the running. She was looking around the area nervously while using Saiki as a shield.

 _"What are you doing and why are you so out of breath?"_

"I was attacked by some weirdo!" Lotus exclaimed

 _"Attacked?"_

Lotus nodded her head quickly, "Yeah! It all started when I left my house…."

 ** _Flashback_**

Lotus walked out of her house saying goodbye to her family as she left. As she made her way down the street she spotted an elderly woman.

 _"I was just walking to school when I saw this old woman. She looked confused like she was looking for something."_

Lotus stopped walking and made her way over to the woman.

 _"I decided to stop and see if she needed any help."_

"Excuse me, mam. Are you okay?"

The woman turned to Lotus looking a little worried but gave her a kind smile. "How kind of you young lady but I'm quite alright."

"Are you sure you look lost. Do you perhaps need some directions anywhere?" Lotus asked

"No no. I'm just trying to find my grandson."

"Oh! Well, maybe I can help. He could go to my school. Maybe I know him." Lotus said

"That's very kind of you but I'm sure that will take up too much of your time."

"It's no problem at all. I'd be happy to help." Lotus smiled

"Such a kind young woman. It touches my heart really."

Lotus giggled rubbing the back of he head. "Thank you, mam."

"My grandson often visits this game store in town. Do you think you could give me some directions there?"

"Of course."

 _"So I gave the woman the directions to the store, and we said our goodbyes."_

The woman thanks Lotus and bowed. Lotus smiled and bowed back in response.

 _"As I went to walk away I remembered that the bus station was close by and that she could just a catch a bus into town and that'd it be much quicker than walking."_

Lotus turned around to tell the woman, but she was gone.

 _"But when I turned around she was gone. She must have been a really fast walker, but that's when I spotted **him**."_

Lotus turned to go back on her pathway to school but across the street, someone caught her eye. Staring back at her was a boy her own age but his mouth was agape and his eyes were wide. He looked really surprised staring at Lotus.

 _"I didn't know what was wrong with him. So I just smiled and waved. I guess that was a mistake."_

The boy took one step forward to Lotus, and she watched him confused. Then all of a sudden he started sprinting towards Lotus at full speed.

Lotus's eyes got wide as the boy dove at her. She let out a cry ducking down allowing the boy to fly over her crashing into the wall behind her.

Without a second thought, Lotus's started sprinting towards school.

 ** _Present_**

"And that's what happened. I don't know how to teleport yet, so I just ran." Lotus finished her story.

Saiki listened feeling a sense of aggravation wash over him. _"Don't tell me…."_ Saiki reached into his bag pulling out a letter handing it over to Lotus. _"Here read this."_

Lotus tentatively read the paper her eyes scanning over the words. When she was done reading she looked at Saiki.

"So some guy knows about your powers? And he wants to be your apprentice...or is it servant?" Lotus said

 _"Forget that part."_

"So are you going to meet up with him?" Lotus asked

 _"He came to my house last night after I got the letter."_

 _"That soon? Then why send a letter in the first place."_

The two walked into school sitting at their desks and Saiki was about to tell Lotus about the guy and how he was the one that tried to tackle-hug her this morning, when a classmate spoke up catching the twos' attention.

"Hey did you hear about the new transfer student from the class next door?"

Saiki quickly got up from his seat and walked out of the room heading to class next door, with Lotus trialing behind. As he opened the door Lotus gasped and stepped out of view.

 _"Saiki it's him!"_

The guy Lotus spoke of was indeed Toritsuka Reita surrounded by a group of his new classmates. Spotting Saiki, Reita stood up greeting the psychic by calling him, Master.

 _"Could this be any more cliche?"_

* * *

Saiki, without drawing attention, was able to drag Reita off to a more secluded place in school, the boys' bathroom. Lotus nervously waited outside the boys' bathroom patiently.

After a while Saiki and Reita walked out, Reita looking rather gloomy.

"I just feel like I got beaten up by the school bully. I don't get why you hide your powers. If you show them off you'd get so much attention." Reita said

 _"That's exactly why."_

Lotus joined the two standing on the opposite side of Saiki.

Reita grinned and slid up next Saiki. "Saiki there's this really sexy ghost that's been following you for a while. I think she might have been a student at this school or something. I saw her this morning too."

 _"What?"_

Reita pointed to the other side of Saiki gesturing to Lotus.

 _"Her? She's not a spirit."_

"She's not!" Reita shouted. He turned to Lotus. "I saw you talking to a ghost this morning!"

"I was?" Lotus questioned

"Yes, that old woman you were talking to this morning," Reita said

"Well, how was I supposed to know she was a spirit?" Lotus said

"So wait, you're a Medium too!" Reita got a lecherous smile on his face. "Hey, if you'd like to have some discussions over Psychic Medium stuff I'd be glad-"

 ** _"Nope."_**

Reita was quickly shot down.

* * *

Saiki explained to Lotus all about Reita and when he finished Lotus nodded her head understanding why he had jumped at her this morning.

"Ooooh, I see. He tried to hug me because he's a Class A supernatural perv." Lotus concluded

Saiki nodded his head, _"Yup. Right on the nose."_

Reita frowned with a dismal expression. "I'm right here you know."

"So you're a psychic too huh?" Reita asked Lotus.

 ** _"Keep your voice down."_**

"And it's not that I'm psychic exactly but I have the supernatural ability to copy people's skills automatically. Being around Saiki I just sort of copied his psychic abilities." Lotus explained

Reita looked upset at Lotus's words. "This is so unfair! Having your power to copy people would have been perfect for me. I could copy Saiki's powers and achieve my goals."

 _"You mean those goals of seeing through girls clothes and predicting lottery numbers."_

 _"Gross."_

"Hey," Reita looked at Lotus. "Does that mean if you hang around me you'll be able to see ghosts?"

"I guess so. I mean I did see one this morning." Lotus said

 _"But I don't think I wanna spend too much time around the boy who wants Saiki's powers, so he can see what color underwear girls are wearing."_

 _"Hey."_ Saiki got Reita's attention. _"The same rules for me apply to her too. Remember the toilet paper."_

Lotus looked confused but Reita looked terrified.

* * *

The three supernatural powered teens walked heading back to class.

"I can't believe there are two psychics that want to hide their powers. Then again I guess it's creepy to know that someone's peeking into your brain. You can peek at other body parts too. That means you can see all the girls naked anytime you waaaaannnnttt….." Reita's voice trailed as a sparkling Teruhashi glided by.

He blushed as Teruhashi turned giving a giggle before she continued on.

 _"~Yup another boy in love with me.~"_ Teruhashi confidently thought

 _"That girl's vanity could be a supernatural power of its own."_

"Who was that angel that just passed us?" Reita asked

 _"That's Teruhashi. She just walked by you for no reason whatsoever. You should thank her."_

Reita grabbed Saiki's shoulders and started shaking him. "Did you see all the nooks and crannies of her body?! Come on give me some details!"

 _"Please don't be weird."_

Reita let go of Saiki but then paused glancing at Lotus. "Saiki! I get it! You hang around this busty beauty and peek at her all day, don't you! What color underwear is she wearing today?"

Lotus felt a vein twitch, and she gave Reita a swift chop to the back of the head. The purple haired boy gave an "Ow!" grabbing his head.

"First off don't call me that and never speak of my underwear! And secondly, Saiki's not that kind of guy who'd do that to girls. Thirdly even if Saiki was that kind of guy it wouldn't work because I absorb his powers so anything he tries to use on me doesn't work." Lotus said

Lotus's words don't seem to fully resonate with Reita, and he just grabbed his head shaking it. "But still it's so unfair he gets to hang around such a cute girl like you."

Typically, Saiki would have denied that but for some reason he didn't. Lotus was smiling on the inside glad that Saiki wasn't objecting, the two had slowly gotten closer and closer the journey of friendship becoming less longer.

She didn't know if Saiki did it on purpose or not, but he no longer made her walk behind him when they walked places and actually let her walk next to him, although he still made her talk to him with telepathy if they're around other people. But she still saw that as a big step forward.

"There he is!"

Suddenly a large group of girls appeared surrounding Reita.

"You can see guardian spirits right?"

"Tell me about mine!"

All of the girls smiled and chattered loudly at Reita.

"Well, I guess I can make do with this." Reita smiled putting thumbs up.

 _"You're terrible."_

"Ladies I'll get to each of you one at a time," Reita said

A brown-haired pixie cut girl spoke up. "Hey, so what is a guardian spirit?"

"Just like it sounds. A spirit that watches over and protects you." Reita said

"So can you tell me what mine is?"

"Your spirit is a Samurai. Who looks like he can really keep you safe," Reita said making the girl smile. He went around the girls telling them their guardians spirits. "Yours is someone from Europe or another place with lots of blonde people."

A long-haired brunette popped up. "Do me!"

"Your is-ah!" Reita froze seeing the spirit next to the girl. It was a rather rough looking unkempt man. "He's ah barb maybe uh could be from France." Reita lied

"Oh my," The girl grinned

Reita sweat dropped staring at the spirit. "Might be in his 20's."

The ghost left the girls side appearing next to Reita getting rather close to the boy. "You see me right?"

Reita struggled to talk while avoiding eye contact with the spirit. "He's really handsome."

Lotus, who could see the spirit now, was chuckling behind her hand watching the ghost pester Reita, while he lied to the girl.

Just then a group of guys appeared in front of Reita all asking about their guardian spirits too.

"Hey tell me about mine!"

"Yeah me too!"

"No me first!"

Reita bluntly ignored the group of guys. "Alright ladies, who else wants to talk to me?"

"Hey what about us?!"

Reita cut his eyes looking bored as he glanced at the male group. "Let's see now. Old dude, old hag, old hag, really old hag," Reita quickly told the guys before turning back to the girls. "Now ladies-"

"At least pretend to care!" The guys yelled

Suddenly Reita gasped and walked over to Hairo and his friends. "Ah man your guardian spirits incredible. He's an intensely passionate man and plays tennis." Everyone thinks Reita is talking to Hairo until the Medium points at him indicating he thinks Hairo is a ghost. "He's got boundless energy! I think maybe his name-!"

 ** _"He's not dead."_** The two pink heads cut in.

"Guardian spirits. Sounds dumb." With those words, Kaidou arrived on the scene. Even though he had a mocking tone, once again, his face betrayed his words. His blush was a clear signal that he was indeed interested in finding out about his guardian spirit. "Still suppose it'd be rude to not here you out." Kaidou pointed at himself. "So tell me about mine or whatever I don't care."

 ** _"He totally cares."_**

Reita faced Kaidou. "Your guardian spirit, oh wow it's kinda abnormal."

"Huh?!" Kaidou gasped looking rather pleased.

 _"~What does that mean? Is it some kind of demon or monster or dark spirit!~"_ Kaidou thought excitedly

"So what is it-?"

"It's a chihuahua," Reita stated

And just like that, a small barking dog sat on top of Kaidou's head wagging its tail fervently.

 _"Yup that's Kaidou in a nutshell. A small cute animal that acts bigger than it is."_

"A Chihuahua!" Kaidou gasped

All the girls around gasped and gushed over how cute that was.

"How dare he insult me like that. This guy's a fraud." Kaidou mumbled

Now the day wouldn't be complete if there wasn't an appearance made by the one and only Nendou. The tall scar eyed teen smiled walking over.

"What going on here? A festival?" Nendou asked

 _"Now here's someone abnormal."_

"This guy here says he can see guardian spirits. But he lies," Kaidou told Nendou.

"Oh, whoa what's that," Nendou said walking over to Reita.

"Now now no pushing. Everyone just wait their turn-"

Nendou popped up in front of Reita. "Hey what's my guardian spirit?"

Reita looked a bit surprised staring at Nendou.

 _"Nendou's guardian spirit. Now that I'm curious about."_

 _"I'm rather interested in finding that out too."_

Instead of answering him Reita turned around facing another girl. "Okay let's see your guardian spirit is a politician."

 _"Ah, denied."_

Lotus smiled giggling a bit at Saiki's comment.

* * *

School came to an end, so Saiki and Lotus were walking home but with two extra guests with them.

Reita yawned stretching his arms. "You know I gotta say I'm happy I transferred to this school."

In the background, Nendou was following the three asking Reita over and over about his guardian spirit.

"I'm gonna tell I'm gonna have an awesome time here. Say would either of you liked to hear about your guardian spirit?" Reita asked Lotus and Saiki.

 _"No need to tell me. Being around you means I'm gonna find out sooner or later. Let's let it be a surprise."_

 _"Me, I couldn't care less. But could you tell him he's getting really annoying."_

All of the sudden Reita snapped turning to Nendou. "Just shut up! I told you not to follow me around everywhere! I hate you!" Reita screamed

 _"Whoa what got into you?"_

 _"That was an unexpected outburst."_

Reita took his school bag and swung it full force at Nendou hitting him in the shoulder. Reita appears rather surprised when the bag hit Nendou. He reached up grabbing Nendou's face and squeezing it.

 _"Uhm what is he doing?"_

"What your not a ghost!?" Reita screamed

 _"You really didn't know?"_

 _"He did think I was a ghost too."_

"But all this time he's been following us neither of you once acknowledged his presence. I thought you couldn't see him!" Reita panicked

 _"I see him I just ignore him."_

 _"I tend to take Nendou in small doses. So there are times I just let him talk and just tune him out."_

"Hey what was that all about?" Nendou shouted

Reita slid up next to Nendou. "No way. It's true I can see an old hag behind you!"

 _"It's true. He can't tell the difference between the living and the dead. Psychic Mediums sure have it rough."_

Those words made Lotus hang her head a wave of depression flowing over her.

Saiki sighed mentally. _"What's wrong now?"_

 _"That's gonna be me real soon."_

* * *

After the whole "Nendou is real and not a spirit" incident Reita brought Saiki and Lotus to his temple/home to explain himself for his earlier actions.

As soon as the three entered the temple grounds Lotus's eyes widened, and she froze staring at an empty space in front of the temple home.

 _"What's got you so shocked?"_

Lotus just reached over and grabbed Saiki's arm before placing it on Reita's shoulder. His psychometry powers activated, and he could now see what the other two could.

 _"Is that?"_

Sleeping on the ground was Nendou's ghost father.

"Allow me to introduce my guardian spirit," Reita uttered intoned.

 _"I'm sorry, you really do have it rough."_

* * *

Lotus let out a happy sigh closing her eyes, as she was currently soaking in a nice warm bath.

"Ahhh this is what I need after a long day." Lotus sighed, "All this talk about ghost can be really taxing. I wonder when I'm gonna start seeing them on a regular basis? I better be careful who I talk to from now on. Don't wanna look crazy in front of others because I'm talking to thin air."

Lotus rubbed her fingers together feeling the skin a bit wrinkled. "Guess I've been in here longer than I thought. Guess it's time to get out."

She opened her eyes sitting up in the tub, she stepped out of the tub grabbing a towel. Lotus walked to her room and as she opened her door she froze.

"W-What?!"

* * *

"Violet! Ethan!"

Lotus came running downstairs still wrapped up in a towel.

Violet looked up from a book she was reading. "Lotus what's wrong?" Violet adjusted the reading glasses on her face. "And why aren't you wearing any clothes? There are perverts about."

"There are ghosts in my bedroom!" Lotus exclaimed

"Oh, so you can see ghosts now?" Violet asked as if it was the most normal question in the world.

Lotus nodded her head. "Yeah, a psychic medium goes to my school now."

"I see I see, then there's only one thing that must be done." Violet got a serious look on her face. She closed her book and threw off her glasses. "Off to the nearest temple to buy spirits wards!"

 _"You just broke your glasses."_

* * *

The next day Lotus dragged her feet to school walking with Saiki.

 _"You look tired."_

"I feel tired too. Seeing ghost now is not fun. Violet had to take me to the nearest temple to get spirit ward to send off any negative spirits. But there are plenty of benevolent spirits too, and they can be just as noisy. A group of geishas spent some time gossiping in my room. I think I might have to start sleeping with earplugs. I was only able to get a few hours of sleep. Oh, but while I was at the temple I got you something too. It's supposed to symbolize a growing relationship and bring good luck. Since we're becoming friends now I thought it'd be perfect. And don't you try to deny it. You know I'm slowly becoming your friend." Lotus said

Lotus reached into her bag pulling out a small wooden pendant on green beads.

Saiki didn't deny it but instead stared at the small gift. _"You got this for me?"_

Lotus smiled nodding her head. "Yup!"

Saiki gripped the pendant in his hand, and he got that strange feeling again, that he only got around Lotus.

 _"We're going to be late for class."_ Saiki sped walk away and Lotus sluggishly jogged after him.

* * *

School came and went rather quickly and soon Lotus found herself back home. She entered her room excepting there to be a group of spirits hanging out in there.

"Hello there!"

"Holy-!" Lotus shouted jumping startled.

"Welcome home Lotus! It's very nice to meet you!"

 _"Uhhh what?"_

Sitting on Lotus's bed was a rather tall man at least six foot, wearing medieval silver armor. His hair was bright orange and choppy cut. Strapped to his back was a large claymore sword. He was smiling brightly while waving at Lotus rather enthusiastically. Lotus could only think that the man was a spirit or a crazed cosplayer who had snuck into her room. Let's just go with spirit. He was the only spirit in the room which surprised Lotus.

"I am Helios Ward the third!" The spirit greeted

 _"That's one fancy name."_

"I am your guardian spirit and also your 6th great-grandfather!" Helios announced

 _"You're my what now?"_

* * *

Lotus sat before Helios as he gave her a little breakdown on her family history.

"I see, well mother did say she had some European roots in her bloodline. Also, you have the same bright hair color. So are you the reason why there aren't any spirits in my room?" Lotus asked

"That's right!" Helios gave a salute and a wink. "I could feel your distressed emotions with all the spirits flocking the place where you dwell for relaxation, so I came to aid you."

"Well….that's nice thank you," Lotus said

"It's so wonderful to be needed once more. Do not fret my young little descendant I, your faithful guardian and ancestor will watch over you!" Helios declared

 _"It's nice that he'll help keep the spirits at bay but….he's pretty loud too. He's starting to remind more and more of Mom and Violet with that bold boisterous attitude."_

Suddenly Helios got this gushy look on his face, and he started blushing. "It'll be just like when I was protecting my precious Tsukiyama!" Helios reached into the breastplate of his armor and pulled out a very worn out looking piece of parchment paper. "Cast your gaze upon the beauty of my wife and your 6th grandmother."

On the paper was a sketching of a beautiful woman wearing a kimono and that woman looked just like Lotus.

 _"Why and how does a ghost have a picture?"_

"You look just like her! That's why your so beautiful my little descendant." Helios started tearing up. "It brings tears to my eyes knowing that my precious Tsukiyama's beauty and grace lives on through you!" Helios threw himself at Lotus but since he was a spirit he fell right through her.

"Y-You are just like mom and Violet! So you're the source of their crazy personalities!"


	13. Hairo Won't Ever Give Up!

**AC1252 -** Lotus will interact with other girls later in the story, I'm just still trying to figure out how I want their reactions to Lotus be. I think Lotus's dub would be Cherami Leigh.

 **Huang Bai Lian -** I don't think Teruhashi really has an ability she's just pretty and knows it, so she uses it to her advantage. The aura that surrounds her is just to show that she dazzles people she encounters. Lotus does have her own charm and her beauty is supposed to be on par with Teruhashi's, so she does attract people but unlike Teruhashi she doesn't put herself on display to draw in crowds. There is a special chapter coming just for Teruhashi's brother that I'm super excited about.

 ***NOTE* - AC1252 commented what would Lotus's voice actor be if she were a real character in the show. I think Cherami Leigh would be a good fit, but what do you guys think?**

 _This is Lotus_

 _This is Saiki_

 ** _This is Saiki and Lotus together_**

_~This is the thoughts of other people~_

* * *

 **Hairo Won't Ever Give Up! - A Day Full of Bunny Hops and Lumber**

Lotus quickly got used to having her guardian spirit, Helios, around. He didn't really bother her, well not when she was in public at least. He tended to hover over her when they were home. Helios wasn't like Violet when it came to over-enthusiastic coddling and praising. No, he was much worse, Helios's attitude was just like her mother's. Out in public, Helios didn't really show himself but just appeared to rid Lotus of any pesky spirits. When she was out grocery shopping a spirit kept pestering her complaining about the current prices of the produce, but it was really surprising when Helios appeared out of a pile of melons and headbutted the spirit away.

Sometime Lotus wouldn't even notice Helios was around at all.

Lotus and Saiki are shown walking down the street with a rather unsavory spirit trailing behind them in the background. Helios slid by swinging his Claymore like a sword hitting the spirit away like a home run.

So all in all Helios was the true defender that he promised he'd be, so Lotus was grateful for him. Even if he was loud.

"Okay so now I need some sugar." Lotus held a spoon and bowl while reading something. Before she could set down the bowl a bag of sugar was pushed towards her.

"Oh thank you Sir Henry," Lotus smiled seeing the ferret using his body weight to push the ingredient over to her.

 _"~You are welcome.~"_

"Little Lotus what's going on in here?" Ethan asked walking into the room.

"Sir Henry and I are just baking. He mentioned something about wanting scones and tea, so I thought I'd make him some." Lotus said

"Scones and tea?" Ethan chuckled. "That's something I haven't heard in a while."

"That's right you must have drunk a lot of tea while you were in Scotland huh?" Lotus asked

"Yup." Ethan nodded his head. "Hmmm, it's sure been some time since I've done high tea. You know I could call back home and probably get the family to send some different types of tea."

"Really? That be nice. What do you think, Sir Henry?" Lotus asked

 _"~Sounds grand.~"_

"Sir Henry seems to like the idea too," Lotus said

"Right then I'll get right on it!" Ethan declared

 _"It's not a mission but I appreciate it."_

* * *

Lotus saw many strange things over the past few months and that list just keeps getting longer. She had just exited the girl's bathroom at school but had to stop when something odd caught her eyes. A group of boys were bunny hopping down the hall. And leading the pack was the class rep Hairo, who was not only hopping like a madman, but he also had a heavy looking box on his back.

 _"What on earth is going on? I was gonna for like 5 minutes."_

* * *

At the end of the day Lotus never really did get her answer as to why Hairo had been bunny hopping with her male classmates, so she just chalked it up to one of the many odd occurrences that have suddenly entered her life. Currently, she was walking down the halls with Saiki and for some reason, unbeknownst to the psychics Hairo was with them.

"Hey did you guys know that scientists say that the average person sweats about 300 milliliters every night while they're sleeping," Hairo said

 _"You're telling us why?"_

 _"And if that's true people should change their sheets much more."_

"The school's sports day is coming up-"

"Sports!" Lotus shouted facing Hairo. "We're going to have a for real sports day?" She asked excitedly.

"That's right!" Hairo declared

Lotus's cheeks turned red as she got excited. "The school I went to before never had a sports day, I've only ever heard of them but never actually got to be in one. What kind of sports are gonna be there?!"

"All kinds! There's track, tug of war, bean bag toss, and all other fun sports." Hairo said

"I'm getting fired up now." Lotus declared with a burning light in her eyes steam coming off her smiling face.

 _"You're gonna overheat again."_

"Anyways I'm working on building the entrance gate now. Kudo was supposed to be helping me, but he came down with a cold," Hairo said

Saiki and Lotus saw through Hairo's mind the conversation he had over the phone.

"You can't quit on me now! Beating a cold is just a matter of willpower! You show that stupid virus whose boss!"

 _"Are you a monster?"_

"Really it's almost done all we have to do is connect the arch to the pedestal." Hairo led Saiki and Lotus to a classroom, "So if you just give me hand-?"

As he opened the door Hairo paused and froze seeing the almost finished gate was broken. Saiki plugged his fingers into his ears and Lotus quickly followed suit, and just in time too. Hairo let out a loud strangled scream of horror as he ran into the room.

"Pedestal! You were standing just fine yesterday! Can you hear me!? Get up!" Hairo shouted

 _"Pep talks don't work on pedestals."_

 _"Why isn't he more concerned about who did this? Pedestals and arch's don't just break like that on their own."_

 _"What a pain. This is more than what we can fix."_ Saiki turned around. _"I'm gonna go now. Let's go Lotus."_

"Saiki, Lotus, wait! We can do this! If we work fast we can finish before the last train leaves!" Hairo said determined

 _"Give me a break."_

* * *

" _And so the tsundere Saiki comes forth and helps his friend in need."_ Lotus self-narrated only to herself. She's pretty sure Saiki wouldn't like it if she called him a tsundere.

"Yaaaah you can do it! I believe in you! Don't give up! Never stop!" Hairo shouted as he rigorously sawed some boards.

Lotus and Saiki were off to the side hammering some nails into a board.

 _"Please stop. What a pain. What am I even doing here?"_

To the average eye, it looked like Saiki wasn't really working hard, but they would have quickly been proven wrong when he hammered a nail and the hammer broke in half.

"Whoa!" Lotus gasped watching the head of the hammer fly off.

 _"Hard to figure out how much strength to use."_

 _"Guess you don't have to worry about things like this huh, Saiki?"_

Hairo appeared behind the two. "Dammit it this catastrophe! We've run out of lumber!"

 _"So we should give up."_

"I'll buy more!" Hairo declared

 _"Give up already!"_

Hairo gave his two helpers a thumbs up. "Saiki, Lotus, keep it up I'm counting on you guys!"

 _"Why are you so sweaty?"_

With a war cry Hairo ran out of the room leaving Saiki and Lotus.

 _"Seriously I could just go home but then I'll have to deal with the guilt trip from him tomorrow. It'll be easier to work without tools since I'm not used to them."_ Saiki turned to look at Lotus. _"Let's take this time to see how well you're improving on your psychic power control."_

Lotus smiled nodding her head. "Alright!"

Saiki used his powers to lift up a board then chopped it into equal pieces. Lotus observed Saiki before trying this on her own. Her board lifted off the ground though a bit wobbly. She was about to use her powers to chop it but a hand on her shoulder stopped her.

Lotus was taken aback when she looked over her shoulder to see Saiki was holding onto it standing rather close to her.

 _"You too tense your gonna end up chopping more than just the wood. Or pass out from the breath your holding in."_

Lotus let out a gasp not realizing she had been holding her breath as she tried to lift up the board with her mind.

 _"Concentrate, relax, and breath. Visualize what you want."_

Lotus closed her eyes and followed Saiki's words and let out a calming deep breath. She opened her eyes and visualized in her mind the boards slicing themselves up into equal pieces. And like magic, the board's lifted off the ground and did just that.,

"I did it! Thank you, Saiki!" Lotus smiled

Saiki nodded and stepped away from the girl just realizing he had been standing so close to her the whole time and that his hand had been on her shoulder as well.

When the two psychics had the needed wood they lined the boards up correctly then Saiki grabbed some nails. With amazing precision and power, he drove each nail into the boards under a second.

"So cool." Lotus complimented

Hearing the compliment, Saiki turned away from Lotus adjusting his glasses.

 _"It'll look suspicious if we get too much done on our own."_

 _"Your right."_

So Lotus and Saiki sat down, sharing a box, as Saiki read a book and Lotus read Manga.

* * *

Hours passed and the sun was starting to set outside.

 _"It's taking a long time. What's he doing? Is he slacking off?"_

 _"That doesn't sound anything like Hairo."_

 _"Your right."_ Saiki closed his book. _"Guess I better try to find him."_

Lotus let out a snort like laugh as she watched Saiki cross his eyes. "What in the world are you doing?" She giggled

 _"Clairvoyance."_

"Ah, an introduction to a new power. But do you need to cross your eyes to do it?" Lotus asked

Saiki nodded his head. _"This one should be simple enough for you to handle compared to other powers. Just be careful it might give you a headache."_

"Got it!" Lotus replied

 _"There I found him."_

"What's he doing?" Lotus asked

Saiki's eyes widened a bit. _"Where the hell did he get that?"_

"What is he doing?" Lotus asked again

 _"He's got a giant tree trunk tied to his back, and he's trying to drag it back here."_

 _". . . .Where the hell did he get that?"_

 _"You know sometimes it's really just better to give up."_

Hairo's thoughts started to filter into Lotus's mind meaning he must be getting closer to the school or her telepathy range was improving, which would make sense. The more she hung around Saiki the stronger her powers got.

 _"~Saiki and Lotus are working hard by themselves! I can't give up! I have to do this for them.~"_

 _"Were fine, please give up."_

"I'm more surprised his back hasn't given out carrying a whole tree trunk on it," Lotus commented

 _"~Crap!~"_

 _"What now?"_

 _"~The log is covered in some kind of fungi!~"_

 _"Then just ditch it."_

 _"~No I can't give up now!~"_

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"

Saiki and Lotus looked towards the door of the room, and it crashed open. In came Hairo riding on top of the log. He and both the log smashed into the wall of the classroom, with Hairo smashing his face right on the wall.

 _"That's some slimy fungus."_

A battered Hairo stood up giving Saiki and Lotus a thumbs up. "Sorry, it took so long but don't worry we can still finish by morning?" Hairo slurred

 _"Maybe you should sit down."_

"Oh, you'll finish sooner than that."

Standing in the doorway of the classroom were several guys from their class along with a girl Hairo had helped earlier that day.

"What are you guys doing here?" Hairo asked

"We were doing after school activities and saw you sliding by on an out of control log."

"You always help us out."

"We wanted to help you."

These kind words brought tears to Hairo's eyes. "Wow….kay let's do it! Huddle up, guys!"

"Go, team!"

 _"Can we get started now?"_

"Oh, Saiki," Lotus mused to herself.

He really was a good guy. If he really wanted to he could have left once the other students arrived, but he didn't.

* * *

So with many more hands, the sports day arch was being rebuilt. Everyone worked hard on different task giving it their all to rebuild the pedestals and arch.

"Stop the fungi from breeding!"

"Saw like crazy!"

"Hey no slacking off."

Lotus and the one other girl in the room gasped covering their eyes when Hairo managed to moon everyone in the room.

In no time the project was completed.

"Whoa, we're finished!"

"It looks pretty good!"

Everyone was cheering happy and proud of their work.

 _"What a pain. I didn't think it would take this long. Normal people have it rough too. Though doing this kind of thing isn't so bad once in a while."_ Saiki gave a small smile.

Lotus was happy that Saiki seemed rather pleased even through all the inconveniences he had to go through today. She was also pretty elated seeing Saiki's real smile, what a rare sight. She kinda wishes she had a camera.

"Hey but wait why are we preparing stuff for the sports day festival now?" A guy asked. "It's still a month away right?"

This seemed to make Saiki's mood do a full 180 and his small short-lived smile turned into a frown.

"Are you kidding!" Hairo flashed a bright smile. "A month will pass in no time!"

Everyone in the room froze going stark white.

 _"Yeah….we don't mix at all."_

* * *

"You know I think pretty soon I'll be able to teleport on my own."

 _"We'll see."_

"Thank you once again, Saiki, for taking me home."

 _"No problem."_

Lotus was a bit taken back by that response. Normally Saiki wouldn't say anything, or he'd make a quip about it being bothersome or not wanting to owe someone.

Deciding not to push on it Lotus smiled. "Also thanks for staying today. I know you could have easily snuck off and left after everyone arrived but I'm glad you stayed. Having you around makes things fun and I really enjoy your company." Lotus walked to her door and with one last farewell, she gave Saiki a wave before going inside.

Saiki watched from his side of the street and without realizing it the smile that had graced his features earlier had returned.


	14. Home Alone Disaster

_This is Lotus_

 _This is Saiki_

 ** _This is Saiki and Lotus_**

 _~This is the thoughts of others~_

 **Home Alone Disaster - Wait He's Not Home Alone!**

Today was a special day well it was actually Sunday but it felt special to Lotus at least. Today Lotus was going over to Saiki's house.

The look on Lotus's face could only be described as total disbelief when Saiki invited her over. Apparently, his parents were going to a wedding and would be out all day making it the perfect time for Lotus and Saiki to have a one on one psychic lesson. It was a good thing that her sister and Ethan were going to be out today too. Although Violet seemed to be fond of Saiki she still saw all boys as the enemy when it came to Lotus, and let's not even get started on Ethan.

"Good morning Sir Henry." Lotus gave the ferret a scratch on the head as she walked over to her closet. _"Let's see what should I wear today?"_ She opened her closet and blinked, _"Uhh…..what the?"_

Hanging in the closet was a garment bag with a note attached to it. Lotus grabbed the note and read it.

"Dear little Lotus, Ethan has prepared this for in the event that you decided to got out today. Love Violet. P.S. make sure to take pictures, so we can see how cute you look."

Lotus stared blankly at the note. _"I don't know how but somehow even her notes are loud. I can't believe those two picked out an outfit for me…. you know what I can believe it, this is Ethan and Violet after all."_

Lotus unzipped the bag revealing the outfit.

"Oh, that'll look wonderful on you my little ancestor!"

"Son of a-!" Lotus jumped as Helios appeared next to her. "Don't come out of the walls like that!"

"My apologies!" Helios said

* * *

Saiki who was busy using his psychic powers to clean was interrupted by a knock on the front door.

 _"It's too early for that package so that must be Lotus."_

He walked over to the door opening it.

"Hey, Saiki!" Lotus smiled greeting Saiki.

 _"You look…."_ Saiki took in Lotus's attire.

Lotus gave an awkward chuckle rubbing the back of her head. "I know it might be a bit flashy but Ethan makes all of my clothes. Whenever I'm not in my uniform he and my sister like to play dress up, and they somehow always convince me even if they're not home." Lotus looked down at her outfit. "I don't look weird do I?"

Lotus was wearing a white flowing camisole top that had a pink bow in the front. There were ruffled pink lace garter bands on her upper arms. The top was paired with light mint green shorts and white low wedge sandals.

Saiki studied Lotus again before looking into her eyes. _"No, it's nice. It suits you."_ He turned around walking back into his house.

Lotus gave a small silent gasp at the comment standing frozen at Saiki's doorway. She wasn't expecting that. Did Saiki just give her a compliment? It felt like it. Lotus felt her cheeks get warm and her mood was lifted up making her feel a little….what's the best words to describe it, gleeful?

Lotus smiled shaking herself out of her frozen state and walked inside Saiki's home closing the door behind her. She set her bag down and slipped off her shoes. She followed Saiki into the living room taking in his home, she wasn't even a bit surprised when she saw stuff floating around the house.

 _"Even though we live in the same neighborhood our houses are very different on the inside."_

Lotus turned to Saiki, "So why is everything hovering around?"

 _"I'm cleaning."_

"Ah, I see. It's smart to use your powers to clean. You'd be able to get multiple things done as well as reach things that would normally be really hard to clean. Like the ceiling fan or under the oven." Lotus smiled snapping her fingers. "I know, how about I practice my psychic powers by helping you clean. We can kill two birds with one stone."

 _"You don't have to help. It's not your home."_

"No matter I wanna help. Oh, and after we're done I can make us some lunch," Lotus said

 _"Uhm…."_ Saiki paused staring at Lotus. _ "Okay."_

Saiki lifted up all the furniture in the living room and Lotus went around with the vacuum.

 _"There's so much dust under the furniture."_

Saiki showed Lotus how to levitate, so she could reach the light fixtures, but that didn't go so well. She ended up falling, lucky for her Saiki caught her, with his powers of course.

Lotus did much better at their next task which was folding laundry. At first, she was moving slow but the more she used her powers to fold the laundry the better she got, to the point where it only took about a second to fold something.

After that Saiki oversaw Lotus as she used her powers to separate the recyclables of the garbage.

 _"Seriously how can anyone let it get this dirty in here. I mean really it's a wonder we don't have bu-"_

Saiki turned his head and crawling up a shelf was a rather large roach. Lotus wondering why Saiki had stopped talking looked over too, and she to saw the bug. She gasped staggering back putting a hand on Saiki's shoulder to stop herself from falling, before she could speak the two vanished.

 ** _El Paso, Texas, USA_**

A brown stallion was rather startled when two pink haired teens appeared in front of it.

 _"Lotus-?"_

Saiki stopped seeing the face Lotus was making. She had an awkward quivering smile on her face, her skin was pale, she also seemed to be frozen in place.

"Saiki….I can't handle bugs of any kind."

 **Let's take a little flashback into Lotus's childhood shall we**

Due to their work Lotus's parents often had to travel going to various destinations all across the world and sometimes they got the rare opportunity to take their children with them.

One year Lotus and Violet got to go with their parents to a forested mountain in North America. As long as she stayed close to the work site little six-year-old Lotus was allowed to go out and explore the surrounding area. So dawning her hiking clothes and a little camera she went out exploring.

Child Lotus smiled and awed at the beautiful nature around her snapping photo after photo. She noticed something in a tree and walked over to it. Her child curiosity was encouraging her to figure out what was in the tree. Due to the shading of the leaves and the angle of the sun she couldn't really see it. She got close to the tree putting her hands on the trunk. Lotus got on her tippy toes trying to push herself up to get a better look but then thing moved.

Lotus was taken off guard when the thing jumped out of the tree landing right on her face. It took a few seconds for Lotus to realize what it was and her face grew pale as a large spider the size of her hand rested on her face. All the air in her lungs escaped and her eyes went wide. Terror raced through her whole body and she stepped back but her leg got caught on a thick tree root, and she fell back but instead of landing on the ground she fell into a small pit, that was teeming with various varieties of creepy crawlies. Lotus's face went stark white as more bugs crawled on her body.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

 **And that's how Lotus developed a rather nasty phobia of any form of bugs**

Saiki felt a bit bad for Lotus watching her pale shaky form.

 _"Looks like we have something in common."_ Saiki's legs were trembling just thinking about the cockroach. _"For the most part I'm unshakable but the one thing I can't stand is bugs. It's not because they're gross, well that's part of it but I can't predict their moves. Bugs are so small I can't read their thoughts. Just can't get inside their tiny little bug brains. I could get rid of it with my psychokinesis but I don't even want my psychokinesis touching that thing. Teleporting to Texas though may have been an overreaction."_

"No, no, I understand. I freeze up and freak out in the presence of bugs. Honestly, your reaction was much more tamed than mine. Last time I saw a bug I broke a window," Lotus said

 _"I can't go back into that house with that thing there, but my mother is expecting a package. We've already been gone for five minutes,"_ Saiki said

"Then we have no choice. We have to go back and devise a plan to get that package without going anywhere near that," Lotus shivered, "cockroach."

Saiki nodded his head. _"Right."_ He put a hand on Lotus's shoulder surprising her. The two teleported back to Saiki's house landing right in his room.

 _"The roach was downstairs, so we should be safe up here."_

"But what do we do when the delivery guy shows up?" Lotus said

 _"We'll have to go down there."_ Saiki gave a sigh. _"I wish Dad was home…..oh right Dad's useless when it comes to bugs. Now Mom, on the other hand, would scoop it up like an ace infielder catching it like a ground ball tossing it outside."_

"Wow, Saiki your mother sounds fearless. Hmmm? What to do? Normally in my situation, I'd call Violet or Ethan to get rid a bug, but they're both out of the house too," Lotus said

As Saiki and Lotus pondered on what they could do the doorbell rang.

 _"He's here. Why did he have to come now? No, wait this is actually good. Once I get the package there's no need to be home."_

"Your right. Once you get it we can teleport over to my house." Lotus said

 _"The only question is how to get to the door?"_

Saiki and Lotus looked at one another nodding their heads knowing what needed to be done. Saiki vanished from the room teleporting to the front door, leaving Lotus to wait.

* * *

After about 10 minutes Saiki hadn't returned.

"What could be taking him?" Lotus gulped. "I gotta find out what happened but I really really don't wanna take a chance of running into that roach."

Lotus took a deep breath and decided to swallow her fear for her friend. She threw open the door to Saiki's room and sprinted out heading for the stairs.

"Hey, girl buddy!"

"Gah!"

Lotus tripped hearing the new voice. She fell forward down the stairs, but she fell into the arms of the person who had called out to her.

"You okay there?" Nendou asked

"Nendou?" Lotus stood up. Nendou was wearing a t-shirt and some shorts holding a net along with some other bug catching things. "What are you doing here?"

"Why I came to get my best buds to go catch some bugs!" Nendou smiled

 _"No way!"_ Lotus shivered going pale. _"Why would anyone find that remotely fun!"_

Saiki suddenly appeared next to the two, his sudden appearance not being detected by Nendou.

 _"Nendou's going to get rid of that roach."_

 _"That's a perfect idea!"_

* * *

Saiki and Lotus stood as far as they could as Nendou stood in the kitchen.

"A bug? No problem just leave it to me!" Nendou declared. "Now it doesn't matter if its one roach or a hundred I'll get rid of them all."

 _"Great well we're going to be in Brazil just let us know when you're done."_

Nendou laid down on the ground peeking under the refrigerator. "Ah, there they are. There's two of them under there."

 _"That's even worse."_

 _"So gross."_

Nendou grabbed the refrigerator. "Can I lift this thing?" He picked up the large appliance with ease. But that's only because Saiki used his powers to help. "Huh? A lot lighter than it looks."

 _"If it helps to get rid of those monsters I'll lend a hand."_

"Ah, now there's nowhere to run." Nendou just lets go of the refrigerator as if he knew Saiki was holding it up.

 _"You're not supposed to let go."_

 _"If Saiki wasn't here Nendou would have dropped that thing on his head."_

 _"Away take them outsid-"_

 ***SPLAT SPLAT***

Both Saiki and Lotus went deathly pale as they watched Nendou smash the roaches with his bare hands, the loud crunching noise of their exoskeleton bodies being crushed still echoing through their heads.

"You got any tissue? Well, you guys wanna go get some ramen?" Nendou gave his friends a thumbs up and one of the legs of the roaches was stuck to it.

 _". . .I hate to say this after all your help but could you leave like now."_

 _"I think I'm gonna be sick."_

* * *

Saiki was able to get Nendou to leave without any issues.

"Well, now that there's no bugs in here I can cook." Lotus smiled "Do you mind me using some food in the kitchen to make us a lunch?" She asked Saiki.

 _"Be my guest."_

"Awesome!" Lotus cheered

After about half an hour Lotus had whipped up a delicious meal of fried rice and teriyaki salmon.

 _"Looks good."_ Saiki grabbed some food tasting it. _"Doesn't just look good too."_

"I also took the liberty of finishing up the rest of the laundry and I cleaned the kitchen. With the use of psychokinesis I was able to cook and clean. I think I've really got the hang of it now." Lotus smiled

Hanging over Lotus's head a sign flashed brightly saying "Future Housewife Level Up".

* * *

After finishing their meal it was time for Lotus to leave.

"Well Saiki today was interesting, but I enjoyed it. I'll see you at school." Lotus said

 _"Yeah, goodbye."_

Lotus smiled the whole way walking home. She really felt like she made some serious progress with her friendship with Saiki. He was becoming much more comfortable around her. She also got to find out that they shared something in common, albeit it was a fear, but he was willing to share his fear with her, and he didn't judge her for her fear.

* * *

As soon as Lotus got home she walked to her room and was surprised to see Ethan and Violet in there.

"Hey what are you two doing?" Lotus asked

"Lotus perfect timing!" Violet smiled

"I just finished setting it up," Ethan said

"Setting what up?" Lotus asked

"Ta-da!" Violet and Ethan said stepping away.

As they moved they revealed Sir Henry sitting on top of a new bed.

"Oh wow it looks great!" Lotus smiled

The pet bed was a large light blue fluffy pillow big enough for Sir Henry to roll about and not fall off. The pillow sat on a small black table that was about three inches off the floor. Sir Henry's name had been embroidered on the large pillow as well. A new grey blanket was draped off to the side.

"Great job Ethan!" Lotus said

"You never cease to amaze me, darling!" Violet complimented

Ethan smiled drowning himself in happiness over the compliments.


	15. Chiyo and Takeru's Relationship Crisis

**Gabriel790 -** I'm still trying to work out the interactions Lotus will have with the other girl's but I've almost got it.

 **YaoiLovinKitsune -** You are right it is descendant. That needs to be fixed.

 _This is Lotus_

 _This is Saiki_

 ** _This is Saiki and Lotus_**

 _~This is the thoughts of other people~_

* * *

 **Chiyo and Takeru's Relationship Crisis - Crisis?! It's Only Been Three Months!**

"What Minako dumped you?!"

"Hey keep it down."

 _"Ah, just your average day in school."_

Lotus was right, this was your average day at school, filled with gossiping about one's love life. She still didn't get it.

 _"In high school love is always on the rocks. Another reason why I don't get romance. The whole things a mystery to me."_

 _"I think it's nice when it's not forced or rushed, but too many people have such a skewed view on love and romance that it just ruins it. Which reminds me."_ Lotus dug into her desk and pulled out three letters. _"I got more of these. Only one of them is creepy, so I'll let the other two guys down nicely, but this guys letter must be burned. It still eludes me how someone can declare their love for me but we've never ever talked before."_

Off to the side, Chiyo was once again staring at Saiki.

She let out a breathy sigh. _"~Oh no I'm staring at Saiki again.~"_

 _"Chiyo Yumehara. I don't know why she had a crush on me a few months ago."_

 _"Ah but why wouldn't she Saiki, you're so outgoing and charming."_ Lotus joked

 _"Haha,"_ Saiki's words were filled with heavy sarcasm. _"She eventually gave up and I thought she was dating some other guy."_

 _"~He's got such kind eyes and cheekbones of a prince. Such fair skin that just glistens. I can't take my eyes off of him.~"_

 _"Get them checked."_

 _"Hahahah!"_ Lotus buried her face into her arms muffling her laughter.

 _"Quiet you!"_

 _"Sorry Saiki of the princely cheekbones."_ Lotus snickered

Saiki was about to comment on that but seeing Lotus's smile caused him to stop for some reason.

The blushing Chiyo, whose sole focus was on Saiki, finally stopped her staring. _"~No! Bad Chiyo! You have a boyfriend. But lately the thrill is gone, we've lost our spark.~"_

 _"You've only been together for three months!"_

 _"~Those beautiful words that made my heart skip a beat….Takeru says it so much I wanna scream! And when he finally gives that stupid metaphor a rest and says something else-"_

Chiyo imagined her boyfriend talking while they had been at the beach.

 _"~Baby let me be the little blue kickboard for your swimming heart so it doesn't drown in the great big ocean we call life.~"_ Takeru had said

 _"~-He sounds ridiculous,_ ~ _"_ Chiyo thought

 _"She's not wrong about that one."_

 _"So breakup season has come for her too."_

 _"~And that's not even half of it. His feet smell horrible, he chews food as loud as a cow, and he holds his chopsticks totally weird. He's always a jerk to store clerks. He's got the worst fashion sense and every time he laughs he dislocates his jaw which is a total buzz kill. These days all I see are his many many flaws.~"_ Chiyo groaned

Lotus blanched staring forward before she let out a sigh. _"This is why you don't just go and become boyfriend and girlfriend right off the bat. You need to be friends or at least date beforehand to get to know the person. Even Violet and Ethan, who are crazy about one another, got to know each other before they became a couple."_

 _"Ordinarily I couldn't care less about other people's relationships but considering her history she may set her sights on me again if they break up."_

 _"Yeah, I mean how could she resist those kind eyes and skin that glistens."_ Lotus joked again hiding her laughter.

Saiki cut his eyes at Lotus.

 _"I'm sorry, I'm sorry,"_ Lotus giggled

 _"I have no choice I'll be the stand that protects their umbrella."_

"Hahahahah!"

Many people in class stopped their conversations as a loud laugh rang throughout the room. After Saiki's last statement Lotus couldn't help herself, and she burst out laughing. Her laughs got the attention of most of her classmates including several guys who blushed staring at the smiling girl.

"Sorry everyone one. Don't mind me I….just thought of a really funny thing I had heard this morning." Lotus chuckled a little embarrassed rubbing the back of her head.

Saiki, who also had been watching Lotus laugh felt something. He didn't know why, but he was kinda glad that he was the one who made Lotus laugh like that.

* * *

Once the class was on break Lotus and Saiki made their way to another classroom going to observe Takeru, Chiyo's on the rocks boyfriend.

He was sitting at a desk surrounded by friends, and they were all laughing.

 _"So this is Takeru?"_

"Hahaha-ah!" Takeru who was just laughing cried out in pain as his jaw made a horrible snapping sound.

All his friends paled nervously staring at their now in pain friend.

"Are you okay?"

Takeru grabbed his jaw snapping it back in place. "Yeah, I'm fine my jaw got dislocated."

"No, we're sorry for making you laugh."

 ** _"That really is a buzzkill."_**

 _"He should really get that checked out, there is no way that's in any form normal."_

"By the way Takeru how's everything going with your girlfriend lately?" One of his friends asked

Takeru gave the group a thumbs up. "Great!"

 ** _"Nope wrong answer!"_**

* * *

After school Saiki and Lotus were on a mission, to save Chiyo's relationship, so she wouldn't break up with her boyfriend then start chasing after Saiki again.

Chiyo was out in front of the school waiting for Takeru.

"Sorry to keep you waiting but now-"

"Yeah it's fine I just got here too don't worry," Chiyo uttered with a blank emotionless stare.

"So wanna do something?" Takeru asked

"Whatever," Chiyo intoned

"Alright let's do something!" Takeru said

 _"He thinks this is going great?"_

 _"Talk about oblivious."_

Saiki and Lotus followed a few feet behind the unstable couple.

"Wanna go to the arcade?" Takeru asked Chiyo

"No, not really" Chiyo answered barely looking at Takeru.

She seemed so detached from Takeru Lotus was surprised that Chiyo hasn't broken up with him already.

 _"This relationship is worse than I thought."_

Chiyo's likability meter for Takeru appeared and it was at a 57.

 _"Her affection for Takeru is already down to 57."_

As soon as Saiki said that the meter dropped down to 54.

 _"And it dropped another three. This is bad."_

Chiyo let out a sigh, _"~And naturally, he forgot that today is our three month anniversary.~"_

 _"Three-month anniversary huh? At first, I never understood the point of celebrating such short milestones in relationships but after seeing my sister and Ethan, I realized it's about celebrating the time you've shared together because you care for one another."_

 _"Yeah, after all these years my mother wants something special every month."_

 _"Ethan and Violet tend to do something as a couple every month, but they go crazy when it's their yearly anniversary."_

 _"~I'm so relaxed when I'm with you. You're like….a massage chair for my heart.~"_ Takeru thought about Chiyo.

 _"You guessed correct he did forget, and that metaphor is even worse. I have no choice so-"_ Saiki's eyes widen and Lotus saw a small jolt of electricity spike through Takeru. _"Three months!"_

Takeru's head jerked up and he looked confused. "Huh, three months?"

"Wait, what?" Chiyo stopped walking and looked at Takeru with big surprised eyes before she started smiling happily. "Wow you remembered our three-month anniversary, I'm so touched."

Chiyo's meter for Takeru jumped up to 68.

 _"Wow who knew something as simple as a three-month anniversary could make a girl so happy. It's kinda nice. That's the magic of a relationship for ya."_

"Yeah of course and I gotcha something," Takeru lied

Chiyo smile brighter and the meter jumped up to 71. "Wow really! How sweet."

 _"His likability shot up, does he have something for her?"_

 _"~Crap I don't have anything.~"_

 ** _"Of course not."_**

Takeru was panicking as he dug around in his school bag looking for a gift he didn't have. Chiyo was facing away covering her eyes excitedly awaiting her surprise.

 _"~Score I still have some of that squid jerky that I was eating in class!~"_

 _"What girl wants squid jerky?"_

 _"I know it's not really about the gift but that's just sad. Squid jerky is good but not as a gift, especially after you've eaten over half of it."_

"Can I look now?" Chiyo asked eyes still closed.

"Ready," Takeru said

 _"No your not, Lotus!"_

 _"On it!"_

Getting into a pitchers' stance Lotus winded her hand back and threw something as if she was pitching the fastest fastball trying to strike out a batter. The object knocked the squid jerky out of Takeru's hands just as Chiyo opened her eyes.

Chiyo gasped and blushed as Takeru held a cute stuffed pink bunny.

"Oh how cute a bunny!" Chiyo smiled

 _"She was eyeing it in the window earlier good thing I bought it just in case."_

Lotus smiled, _"Saiki you may say that you have no understanding of romance but something tells me you know more than you let on."_ She gave a cute giggle lightly knocking her shoulder against Saiki's.

Saiki doesn't say anything but just looks away from Lotus adjusting his glasses.

Takeru had been surprised by the sudden appearance of the bunny but played it off.

 _"Don't worry I'll take the money out of your wallet to reimburse myself."_

Lotus snickered knowing Saiki was totally serious.

"I smelled squid jerky and for a second I thought that was gonna be my gift." Chiyo smiled hugging the bunny.

Takeru nervously smiled his back going stiff. "What? Who would do that?"

So throughout the day Lotus and Saiki followed the couple helping Takeru to repair the damage he had done within his and Chiyo's short relationship.

Saiki used his psychokinesis to help Takeru win Chiyo a stuffed bear in an arcade game. When the couple came to a puddle Lotus was able to get Takeru's jacket off covering the puddle so Chiyo could walk over it without getting wet. They continued to do various task like that until Chiyo's meter for Takeru hit 90.

* * *

"I had such a great time today!" Chiyo said

"Right. Hey let's grab dinner," Takeru suggested

Chiyo nodded her head. "Sounds good."

"The burgers-"

 _"Okonomiyaki!"_ Saiki mentally implanted in Takeru's mind.

"Okonomiyaki?" Takeru said

"No way you must have read my mind. I was just thinking about Okonomiyaki!" Chiyo said

Takeru's meter went up to 95 as the two walked over to the Okonomiyaki restaurant.

 _"His score is so high I wouldn't be surprised if she married him. There's no way they're gonna break up now."_

"Welcome. Party of two?" The wait staff greeted Chiyo and Takeru.

"Oh wow, you can count! Now take us to our table dumbass!" Takeru yelled

The happy light that was in Chiyo's eyes died and the likability meter dropped to 67. As the two sat down Takeru took off his shoes and the horrible smell from them wafted through the restaurant. Takeru's meter then dropped down to 49.

Once the two got their food Takeru picked up the chopsticks holding them oddly. "This is great!" And as he ate he chewed obnoxiously loud and also talked with his mouth full.

Chiyo had turned to stone as all of her affection for Takeru flew out the window, the likability meter dropping to 0.

"I can't take it anymore! Goodbye!" Chiyo cried running out of the restaurant.

"Huh? Hey, wait!" Takeru stood outside confused food still in his mouth.

 _"Oh, right likability can plummet in an instant too."_ Saiki gave an exasperated sigh.

 _"Honestly….I don't blame her."_ Lotus thought as she sighed too.

* * *

As Saiki and Lotus made their way home Saiki noticed Lotus seemed to be thinking intently about something and since he couldn't read her mind he knew the only way to find out what she was thinking was to ask.

 _"Something wrong?"_

"I was just thinking maybe it was for the best that Chiyo broke up Takeru."

 _"Why?"_

"Well, it was clear that they weren't gonna work out. I mean if Takeru really cared about Chiyo he wouldn't have been acting the way he was. Its like he was off in his own world not concerned at all about his girlfriend feelings. I mean come on how hard is it to ask your girlfriend where she wants to eat for dinner. Or who in their right mind thinks it'd be a good idea to give someone they care about half-eaten squid jerky as a gift. Plus who wants to date let alone hang out around a guy who's so rude to workers and can't even have the decency to learn proper table manners. I may not know Chiyo but I know she deserved better than that, any girl would in fact." Lotus explained

Saiki thought about her words. _"I see…I understand what you mean. But now there's a high chance that Chiyo will start coming after me again."_

"Aw don't worry Saiki. Your ever faithful goalie Lotus is here to help." Lotus gave Saiki a large smile and a thumbs up. "You can count on me!"

Once again Saiki looked away from Lotus adjusting his glasses but this time his lips quirked into a small smile. _"I'll hold you to that."_

Lotus's smile got bigger hearing Saiki and the two walked home together with a rather happy aura surrounding the two.


	16. Saiki's Invincible Invisible Camouflage!

_This is Lotus_

This is Saiki

 ** _This is Saiki and Lotus_**

 _~This is the thoughts of others~_

 **Saiki's Invincible Invisible Camouflage! - Well**... **Almost Invincible**

"Little Lotus! It's here!"

Lotus was busy at her desk doing homework when the door to her room was flung open.

 _"I guess knocking isn't a thing we do in this house anymore?"_

Lotus set down her pencil turning away from her desk facing Ethan. "What's here?"

Ethan smiled holding up a box. "The tea from my family."

"Oh? So soon?" Lotus asked

"Yup, they sent it first class so it got here quick," Ethan explained

"That was nice of them." Lotus picked up Sir Henry as Ethan set the box on Lotus's desk. Lotus set the ferret down next to the box as Ethan opened it.

"Let's see here we've got Earl Grey, Black Tea, Chamomile Tea, Rose Tea. Oh! Look here's some those special of brews that come from the countryside, Green Mist, Scottland West, and some Amelia's Special." Ethan said going through the box.

"Oh, that's the tea that woman from town makes right?" Lotus said

Ethan nodded his head. "Yeah, Mrs. Amelia. She and her family grow and forage for all the herbs that go in their tea.

Lotus reached into the box too. "Oh wow, your mother sent some pre-packaged baking goods to make some scones." Lotus pulled out several small bags and jars when she noticed something at the bottom of the box. "Hey, there's also an envelope."

Ethan grabbed the envelope flipping it over to read the front. "Dad's secret recipe to perfect tea." He read

Ethan and Lotus looked perplexed before the man opened the letter. Both of them deadpanned seeing the bold writing on the white paper. In big black letters was the word, **Whiskey**. Lotus and Ethan sweatdropped as they looked further down the paper seeing something else written.

 **"If you don't have whiskey then use rum!"**

* * *

After school, Lotus could normally be found hanging around Saiki, which she currently was, but she wouldn't be walking home with him today. Instead, Lotus was going to be staying after school to help some teachers run a few errands. Right now she had a stack of papers and was going around various classrooms distributing the papers. Saiki was walking next to her accompanying the girl as far as he could before he left.

"Your excited right? That show's season finale is coming on tonight right?" Lotus asked Saiki.

 _"Right. It's four now so if I hurry I'll be home with time to spare before it airs at 5,"_ Saiki said

Lotus giggled, "I'm looking forward to it too. It's an original anime not based on any manga, so I'm excited to see what the ending is going to be. Hopefully, I'll get these errands done quickly and I'll be able to make it home in time."

The two psychics were about to turn a corner heading to the stairway but Saiki stopped causing Lotus to stop as well.

 _"Uh-oh, Kaidou's up ahead better double back."_

 _"Well I gotta go this way, so I'll catch ya later Saiki!"_

 _"See ya."_

"I can't find Saiki wh-Hidden Princess Warrior Lotus!" Kaidou shouted when Lotus walked out.

"Hey Kaidou," Lotus greeted

"I found this really cool abandoned building that I've turned into my Jet Black Wings lair. You have to come see it with Saiki," Kaidou said

 _"~They're gonna love it my own hideout super secret base!~"_ Kaidou thought imaging the abandoned building he had found.

 _"That place looks dangerous."_

"Well, I think Saiki's left already and right now I'm running some errands for some teachers-"

"Ah, I get!" Kaidou exclaimed, "I'll go find Saiki while you finish up, and we can all go together."

 _"You...don't really get it."_

Kaidou ran off leaving behind Lotus.

 _"Sorry Saiki I tried, but Kaidou's coming. I'm sure he can handle it though, this is Saiki after all."_

* * *

"Lotus!"

Lotus stopped walking as her name was called. She turned around and was greeted by Hairo.

"Hey Hairo, what's up?" Lotus asked

"Hey as a thank you for helping me out the other day I wanted to invite you and Saiki to the gym," Hairo said

 _"The gym? I'd like that but I'm pretty sure Saiki would not."_

"I've caught you but have you seen Saiki?" Hairo asked looking around

"Well, he-"

"No matter I'll find him! I won't give up until I do!" Hairo declared before running off.

 _"Uh….."_

* * *

After about 20 minutes Lotus had finished all of her tasks.

 _"Hmm...I wonder how Saiki's doing. Did he make it home in time? I know!"_

Lotus ran into an empty classroom taking a seat in one of the empty desks.

"Time to test it out." Lotus's eyes crossed. "Clairvoyance!"

Using her mind Lotus searched around and was able to locate Saiki.

 _"There he is!"_

But he wasn't home, in fact, he was still in school, he looked to be hiding out in the bathroom.

 _"Wonder what happened?"_

 _"No one is leaving."_

 _"Whoa, this is both cool and freaky. I can see and hear him perfectly."_

 _"Hairo's at the front gate. Kaidou's at the shoe locker. As for her….Teruhashi and her worker drones are everywhere. Now I'm really screwed leaving is now nearly impossible and I can't record the show cause the moment it's over my mind will be flooded with spoilers from people who'd seen it. It can't be helped my only choice is to become invisible."_

Lotus continued to watch Saiki, but to her, he was still there.

 _"Oh maybe because his powers don't work on me I can still see him. He must be visible to me but invisible to everyone else."_

 _"Okay I've got ten minutes and I gotta make sure no one touches me, so I don't become visible again."_

 _"Ah, so those are the limits Saiki has for his invisibility."_

Lotus observed as Saiki was about to walk out of the bathroom stall he was hiding in, but he quickly shut the door as Nendou walked out.

 _"Whoa, that was a close one Saiki. This must be really hard for him. He can sense where everyone else is but since Saiki can't read his thoughts he can't detect Nendou."_

Lotus watched as Saiki made his way to his shoe locker, but not before scaring Kaidou who had been hiding out in a locker. Kaidou's screaming caught Teruhashi's attention distracting her. Kaidou's cries also brought Hairo, who ran into the school promising to save the person who had screamed.

"Alright, Saiki you're almost there!" Lotus cheered

Saiki was about to switch out his shoes but-

"Heading home Saiki?"

 _"Reita? Wait he can see Saiki?!"_

"I'll walk with you pal." Reita put a hand on Saiki's shoulder making the psychic become visible.

 _"You idiot!"_

"Ah, there he is!" Kaidou, Teruhashi, and Hairo all shouted

 _"So it's not just ghost. He can see anything invisible."_

* * *

Saiki was screwed, utterly and totally screwed. He had been cornered by everyone he had tried to avoid and now he was going to miss his show.

"Attention students! Attention students!" A voice sounded over the PA System. "We have an important announcement, can the following students please report to the office Nendou Riki, Kaidou Shun, Teruhashi, Kokomi, and Hairo Kineshi. Those students please report immediately to the office, thank you."

"What?"

"Huh?"

"I wonder why they want us?"

With the announcement, everyone who was crowding Saiki had to leave. Saiki gave a sigh a relief seeing them all go.

 _"That was sure lucky."_

 _"It wasn't luck."_

Saiki turned around and standing behind him was a smiling Lotus.

"Twas I Lotus!" She declared pointing at herself.

 _"How did you?"_

"Why it was quite simple. First I had to clear out the office, the only person who was in there was Coach Matsuzaki. I just told him I saw a suspicious looking character skulking around the school, and he ran out. Then I snuck in found the PA microphone and used an accent to disguise my voice and made the announcement. So now that everyone is gone." Lotus smiled putting a hand on Saiki's shoulder and the two disappeared.

* * *

Saiki was surprised when he found himself standing in front of his house.

"Ta-da! I've finally got the art of teleporting down!" Lotus cheered

Saiki was still stunned. _"You…"_

"I know how you really wanted to get home to see that show and I also saw the trouble you were in when you couldn't get out of the school even with using invisibility. Who knew Reita's powers to see ghost meant he could see invisible things too. So being the amazing friend that I am, I came to your rescue." Lotus smirked. "You can thank me now." She joked

 _"Thank you."_

 _". . . . Eh?"_

 _"Thank you, Lotus."_

Lotus's eyes winded and her jaw started to drop. Saiki thanked her and not with a single hint of sarcasm either, he gave her a genuine thank you.

"Y-Your welcome Saiki. Happy to help." Lotus smiled


	17. PK Academy Sports Day - Part 1

**blackmoon20violet -** Ship name,maybe Laiki or Saitus.

 _This is Lotus_

 _This is Saiki_

 ** _This is Saiki and Lotus_**

 _~This is the thoughts of others~_

* * *

 **PK Academy Sports Day - Everyone...Well Almost Everyone Is Fired Up!**

Lotus was happy, no she was excited, no she was, was, was, some other adjective for being totally psyched and pumped up.

Why was Lotus so hyped for today? Today was PK Academy's Sports day!

Lotus was practically jumping in her spot. Just like the rest of her classmates she was dressed in her gym uniform and was wearing a yellow headband.

Hairo stood in front of the class addressing his classmates "Okay you guys today is about one thing only….being number one!"

"Let's do it!"

Saiki did not share the same enthusiasm as his other classmates.

 _"I was all set to miss school today but…"_

Saiki thought of his parents.

 _"~You can't miss sports day!~"_ His mother had said

 _"~Yeah I bought a camcorder just for the occasion!~"_ His father had said

 _"...They guilted me into coming."_

Lotus looked over to see Saiki's parents not paying any attention to their son. Instead, Kuniharu was recording his wife who was smiling in front of a tree.

"Aw, crap the battery died!" Kuniharu exclaimed

 _"Go home!"_

 _"We'll Saiki it could be worse."_

 _"How could it?"_

 _"Well, my sister for one…."_

Lotus thought about her sister when she told her about sports day, and much to Violet's utter devastation she had an important lecture she had to attend.

Violet spent the whole day sulking in a corner wailing about how she was going to miss her little Lotus's special day.

 _"How is that worse?"_

 _"My sister couldn't come but Ethan on the other hand."_ Lotus pointed over to the stands and Saiki blanched.

"Woooooo yeah! Go Lotus! Go Lotus!" Ethan was at the top of the stands shouting through a megaphone cone, waving around a pink pom-pom with his other hand. He was also dressed up wearing a Go Lotus T-shirt and a fight on headband. Ethan also had Sir Henry sitting on his head, the little ferret also had a mini fight on headband wrapped around his head. Lotus also knew Ethan had a camcorder ready to go for when Lotus started her events. Sitting next to him was Helios also cheering.

 _"I see….that is worse."_

* * *

"Class 3 go!"

"Yeah!"

 _"Those 'Yeahs' are getting annoying."_

Lotus gave an awkward chuckle feeling bad for her friend.

"Sports day is stupid," Kaidou spoke.

For some reason, he was wearing his headband like an eye patch.

 _"For the first time, Kaidou and I agree on something."_

"You just saying that cause you suck at sports," Nendou said

"Shut up!" Kaidou yelled

 _"Wow, Nendou's headband seems completely at home."_

 _"Your right it fits perfectly well in the grooves of his hair."_

"Yo Saiki hey!" Hairo greeted

 _"Oh great."_

"Are you pumped?" Hairo asked

 _"I'm the opposite of pumped."_

"And Nendou you're a big guy. I expect big things out of you too." Hairo said

Nendou gave a thumbs up. "That's right you're not beating me this time."

 _"Were all on the same team."_

"Kaidou my man eh….do whatever it is you can do." Hairo gave Kaidou a thumbs up. "I'm sure you're gonna try really hard."

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Kaidou shouted

"Lotus-"

"I'm gonna do my best!" Lotus cheered pumping a fist. She had a fire in her eyes and Saiki wasn't sure if those flames were real or not.

"That's what I like to hear! I'm counting on you girl!" Hairo laughed

"Right!" Lotus cheered

 _"Well….at least someones happy."_

* * *

"There's our competition. They look pretty tough this year guys. First Class 1." Hairo sad

 _"Their symbols a circle."_

"Everyone student in that class is an intellectual. Next Class 2." Hairo explained

 _"Their symbol is a plus."_

"Everyone in this class is a major athlete," Hairo said, "Then there's Class 4."

 _"Their symbol is a square."_

"More intellectuals, like Tanihara who aced his midterms," Hairo said

"We compete for our immortal glory," Tanihara had said

 _"They'd rather be reading."_

"And Class 5," Hairo said

 _"They got the star."_

"More intellectuals who all wear glasses," Hairo stated

 _"Is intellectual your word of the day?"_

"First event. Boys 4-meter dash!" The PA announced

 _"Great and I have to run."_

* * *

"Make them eat your dust, Ku!" Mrs. Saiki cheered

"I'm recording this son….to a tape called my heart," Mr. Saiki said, you know since he ran out of battery.

"You can do it, Saiki! When it for Class 3!" Hairo cheered getting the class pumped up.

 _"I feel really bad for Saiki. I love this kind of stuff but him…"_ Lotus saw the irritated look on Saiki's face. _"Sports day really draws attention to people and that's something Saiki does not want."_

The gun went off and the boys started running. Everyone seemed to be struggling to run their fastest all except Saiki that is. He was running with such ease you'd think he was out for a light jog.

Saiki was in second, but he fell back winning third place. That would seem like the most logical place for him to place without getting his classmates angry at him while at the same time not drawing too much attention, but that didn't work out as he had planned.

"Saiki holy crap dude you got third!" Hairo smiled

 _"Why is everyone so excited?"_

"All the other racers are on the track and field team."

"Yeah, the fourth place guy had the school sprint record."

 _"Wish I knew about this before."_

"Not bad buddy put I'm pretty sure I could smoke you one on one. Wait that guys running?" Nendou said

 _"Kaidou's next? And where's Lotus?"_

Kaidou got in the starting position. _"~I am the wind~"_ "I am Shun the Gale!"

Well, it turns out if the wind was running it would get fifth place, cause that's what Kaidou got. Nendou was off to the side laughing at his friends misfortunate running.

* * *

"Next up coed volleyball!"

"That's the event Lotus is in!" Hairo said

 _"She is?"_

Saiki searches the field easily spotting the pink haired girl. She looked excited as ever as she stretched and warmed up. It was two on two matches, but Lotus's teammate seemed rather apprehensive. Her partner in the volleyball match was a boy named Kitaro. A rather timid boy who was often described as being cute. Which was understandable with his big doe eyes and short curly brown hair. He hated to admit it but when he was younger he was often confused for being a girl. The boy was a good head shorter than Lotus and was thin too. The best word to describe the boy would be delicate, as he shook nervously in his spot.

Lotus put a hand on Kitaro's shoulder making him flinch.

"Don't worry teammate I've got your back." Lotus gave the boy a wink and a thumbs up.

"But what if I mess up? I'm not strong, or fast, and I can't jump high either!"

"Didn't I say I got your back. Don't worry as long as we work hard and give it our all were winners no matter what the outcome is. So are you with me?" Lotus asked her teammate.

"Yeah...I mean yeah!" Kitaro cheered

"Let's do this and give it our all!" Lotus cheered

"YEAH!" Kitaro shouted

"YEAH!" Lotus roared cheering loudly.

"Yeah alright, Lotus that's my precious adorable little sister!" Ethan cheered

Several parents scooted away from Ethan as he stood cheering on the bleachers. Sir Henry clung to his head trying not to fall off, as the young adult moved about.

"Haza my little descendant!" Helios cheered

* * *

The volleyball event ended with Lotus and Kitaro coming out on top.

"Alright, Lotus great job!" Hairo said

Lotus and her teammate got compliments and congrats on their win. Lotus was a beast to be reckoned with when it came to sports. The winning point was scored when Lotus put Kitaro on her shoulders giving the short boy a boost, so he could spike the ball.

"Thanks, guys!" Lotus smiled

 _"You're scary competitive."_

 _"Yes, yes I am."_

"Kitaro you did a great job!" Lotus smiled

"T-Thank you Lotus. But I really couldn't have done it without you," Kitaro said

Lotus giggled, "But I couldn't have done it without you!"

Kitaro smiled looking down. _"~Lotus I really admire you and your strength. One day I hope I can be as strong as you.~"_

Lotus smiled at the timid boys' thoughts before putting her hands on his shoulders.

"Kitaro lets you and I become good friends."

Kitaro looked shocked but then smiled nodding his head.

* * *

"Alright we got first in volleyball, but we got fifth in track. We have to somehow turn things around in the next event!" Hairo said

Currently, their class was in third place.

"The next event is the co-ed three-leg race." The PA announced

"Oh? It's finally my turn," Nendou said

"No, it's not." A black haired boy walked up. "I'm the one participating in the next event."

 ** _"And who are you?"_**

Saiki, Lotus, and Nendou all looked rather confused by the new character.

 _"~My name is Sawakita. Well, my name doesn't matter. I'm only playing a supporting role~."_ Sawakita thought

 _"Now he's narrating."_

 _"~My grades, appearance….everything about me is average. I was born average and I will die average. That's my life.~"_

 _"Hey, Saiki he's got the life you strive for."_

 _"~But a single rock-paper-scissors game brought sunshine into my life! I'll run a three-leg race with Teruhashi! Just the memory of this race will keep me going!~"_

A sparkling Teruhashi stood next to Sawakita.

 _"Can this guy be more dramatic?"_

 _"Maybe he should join the drama club."_

"Let's do our best, Sawakita," Teruhashi said

"O-Okay!" Sawakita said

 _"~My grades, appearance, everything about me is average. I was born average and I will die average. That's my life. But a single rock-paper-scissors game brought sunshine into my life! I'll run a three-leg race with Teruhashi! Just the memory of this race will keep me going! I bet that's what he's thinking.~"_ Teruhashi thought

 _"She got that word for word. I don't know if that is amazing or scary."_

 _"~Make it a memory, a memory of a lifetime! But don't be so focused on me that you can't run the race.~"_ Teruhashi thought

She grabbed Sawakita's hand. "Let's win no matter what!"

"O-Okay!" Sawakita stuttered

Teruhashi smiled but her thoughts we not as cheery. _"~I may not look it, but I hate to lose.~"_

"Hey, if we win, let's celebrate...alone okay?" Teruhashi said

Sawakita's face went blank at the words, the very idea of spending some alone time with Teruhashi was just too much for him.

 _"Hook, line, and sinker. There's no way that guy is going to let them lose now."_

Everyone lined up getting at the starting line.

"On your mark get set go!" The referee shot the starting pistol.

Sawakita cheeks red, ran at full speed carrying Teruhashi.

"Hey, this is supposed to be a three-legged race!"

"Goal! Sawakita and Teruhashi won first place hands-down!"

 _"But does it really count if he carried her the whole way?"_

"I'm so honored to witness your cherished memory," Saiki said sarcastically

"Class 3 will gain 300 points!"

"Alright! Let's keep it up and make a comeback!" Hairo said

In the background, Teruhashi left Sawakita high and dry promising "To get back" to him later about that celebration. Lotus and Saiki were pretty sure that boy was never getting that one-on-one celebration with Teruhashi.

"Scavenger hunt race, huh? Who's gonna do that?" Nendou asked

 _ **"You will."**_

* * *

Next thing you know Nendou's at the starting line.

"Oh yeah, it was me," Nendou said

"Go for it Nendou!" Hairo cheered

Off on the sideline, Kaidou put his hands in a pose like he was going to shoot out energy. _"~Lose, lose, lose, lose…~"_

"On your marks, set, go!"

"All right!" Nendou shouted as he took off running getting at the head of the pack.

"Nendou from Class 3 is fast!"

"He's the first to pick one up!"

 _"The ranking right now doesn't mean much, though."_

 _"Yeah, it doesn't matter if he picks the card up first if he doesn't actually find it."_

Instead of looking for the object written on his card Nendou stood there laughing gloating a bit.

 _"It also doesn't help if he just stands there."_

Nendou finally looked down at his paper reading it. "Hm? Oh, this is so easy!"

"Oh, looks like he knows where he can get it!" Hairo said

Nendou booked it running over to his classmates.

"Hey, let me borrow that," Nendou said

"You mean this?" Hairo asked holding up his tennis racket.

"No not the racket." Nendou reached out and Lotus gasped as she saw him grab one of Saiki's hair ornaments. "Thanks." With a pop, he pulled the antenna right out of Saiki's head.

Saiki's eyes went wide and blank and the boy toppled to the ground.

"Saiki!"

Thankfully Lotus was right there to catch him. Saiki crumbled into Lotus's arm being nothing but dead weight in her arms.

 **"Saiki? Saiki? Saiki?!"**

* * *

Lotus was internally freaking out as the limp Saiki stayed still in her arms. Everyone gathered around her and Saiki, equally as concerned about the pink haired boy.

"Saiki wake up!" Kaidou shouted

"Lotus what happened!?" Hairo said

"I don't know he just fell over!" Lotus shouted, she looked over at Nendou. "Why did you pull that thing out of his head?!"

"It was on the paper." Nendou showed the paper to Lotus, and she deadpanned seeing Saiki's exact head ornament drawn on the paper.

 _"Seriously!? Who in the world made this scavenger hunt?"_

"Wake up Saiki!" Kaidou shouted

"Here set him over here," Hairo said

Lotus laid Saiki down and his face caused even more panic. Saiki's eyes were dead, and he was even drooling from the mouth.

"Saiki!" A distressed Kaidou cried

"Oh, my bad," Nendou said

"There's something wrong with his face," Kaidou said

Kitaro stood next to Lotus bending slightly to get a look at Saiki. "Is he going to be okay? He fell over when that thing came out of his head, right?"

It finally clicked and Lotus realized what Saiki needed. "Nendou give me that thing back!" She quickly swiped Saiki's antenna out of Nendou's hands and ran over to Saiki putting it back in.

After a few minutes, Saiki seemed to regain consciousness and sat up. Lotus let out a sigh seeing him no longer in that catatonic state.

"Are you okay?" Kaidou asked

"You fainted when Nendou pulled that thing out of your head so Lotus put it back," Hairo said

 _"He pulled out my antenna?"_

 _"Wait that thing actually is an antenna?"_ Lotus thought

Saiki let out a sigh seeming a bit troubled. _"Since the antenna was only out for a little bit the doomsday scenario didn't happen."_

 _"Did you just say doomsday!?"_

 _"I'll explain later."_

"Wow I almost lost my buddy," Nendou whispered

 _"The real worry is Nendou is the one who did it. That makes him a danger. I'll have to eliminate him."_

 _"The fact that you said that so calmly makes that statement even scarier."_

Saiki stood up as the winner of the scavenger hunt race was announced.

Nendou simply laughed, "Nothing I could have done about that one guys. Even when your best buddy passes out there's more important things than sports day. We'll get the next one."

"He passed out because of you!" Someone shouted

Saiki clicked his tongue in annoyance.

As the next events were being announced Lotus walked over to Saiki.

 _"Saiki, are you sure your okay?"_

 _"For the most part, I'm fine."_

 _"You had me worried there. Never in my wildest imagination did I think you could be hurt or rendered unconscious. To me, you're the toughest strongest thing in the known universe."_

Saiki blinked wondering if that was a compliment, if so he wouldn't mind taking it.

Lotus giggled in her head. _"After that little scare, I think your gonna need a bodyguard."_

 _"No, I won't."_

 _"Too late! Lotus the defender is on the job!"_ Lotus semi-joked

Saiki just sighed. _"Do what you want."_

 _"I always do!"_ Lotus smiled "Besides what are friends for.

There it was again that strange feeling Saiki got that only Lotus gave him. He turned away avoiding the girls beaming smile as he faced the scoreboard.

His class had been dropped to fourth place with only 600 points to their name. Well at least they weren't in last, but not by much, the last place class was only behind them by 60 points. The leading class, Class 4, was leading the pack with 1000 points.

"That's the end of our morning events! Time for lunch!" The PA announced

"Well pals looks like it's time for food," Nendou said

"Hey, where'd Saiki go?" Kaidou questioned

"Girl buddy is gone too," Nendou said

"Saiki! Warrior Queen Lotus! Where are you!" Kaidou shouted

As the lunch break started for some odd reason, the rising star magician Chouno was there putting on a performance.


	18. PK Academy Sports Day - Part 2

_This is Lotus_

 _This is Saiki_

 ** _This is Saiki and Lotus_**

 _~This is the thoughts of others~_

* * *

 **PK Academy Sports Day! - The Antenna's Do What?!**

Lotus and Saiki had escaped to the back of the school alone, away from prying eyes, going to have their lunch. Although Saiki had said he was fine Lotus was still worried about him. Her worries were increased when he attempted to eat his lunch, and he couldn't. His hands trembled as he held his chopsticks making him drop his food back into his bento.

"Okay, Saiki you're clearly not okay. What's wrong?" Lotus asked

 _"My antenna. It was only out a second but it's causing me all sorts of problems."_

"What exactly does this thing do?" Lotus asked gently poking at the head antenna.

 _"The antenna Nendou removed is a kind of control device. The psychic superpowers I was born with have only gotten stronger as I've grown older. By the fifth grade, I could already lift a high rise with my mind. I honestly could have blown up the moon if I wanted to-"_

"Oh like in that manga-" Lotus stopped seeing Saiki's face. "Sorry please continue."

 _"All that psychic power is harder to control. Blowing up my house in my sleep is a best-case scenario."_

Lotus sweatdropped hearing that. _"That's the best case…."_

 _"What's most worrisome is my mind control power. I could accidentally destroy the world with a single thought. It would make explosions seem like a day at the beach. So to restrain these powers I wear these things on my head. But it can only restrain my ability not stop it."_ Saiki tried to lift his food up again but once again his shaky hand made him drop his food. _"Underneath, the power is always growing in strength. Once these antennae come off I have no idea what could happen."_ Saiki tried for a third time to eat, but he ended up snapping his chopsticks in half. _"My body is not listening to me."_

"I see," Lotus's eyes softened as she looked at Saiki. "Saiki you carry such a heavy burden. You really are the strongest guy I know."

This time Saiki knew Lotus complimented him, and he felt rather pleased by it plus the fact Lotus understood what he was going through. There was a small twitch of his lips, and he suddenly felt the need to smile. Saiki simply chalked it up to his boy not responding to him properly.

Lotus placed down her bento then picked up Saiki's.

 _"What are you doing?"_

Lotus didn't say anything but simply used her own chopsticks to pick up Saiki's food.

"Here you go!" Lotus smiled holding up Saiki's food.

 _"Again, what are you doing?"_

"Well since you can't feed yourself I'm gonna do it," Lotus said

 _"I don't think-"_

"Come now. Don't argue you need to eat. Now open up." Lotus moved the chopsticks closer to Saiki's mouth determined to feed him.

Saiki looked from the food to Lotus's face. Seeing as the girl wasn't giving up he quickly ate the food casting his gaze anywhere but the girl.

"There now that wasn't so hard was it." Lotus smiled

Saiki rarely ever felt embarrassment, but he felt embarrassed right now, but at the same time he kind of liked it. Was his antenna being removed causing this or was this simply just the reaction he had to Lotus? The girl truly was an anomaly, and Saiki hated those but for some reason, he didn't mind Lotus at all.

At what point in their constant interactions did Saiki stop seeing Lotus as an odd stranger and started seeing her as more like a friend? The girl did say she was going to become friends with him who knew she'd be right. Slowly but surely Lotus wormed her way into Saiki's life and her constant appearance was now something he expected every day and that idea didn't seem to really bother him. Guess they were more than just acquaintances…..well he wasn't going to tell her that.

Lotus and Saiki sat in a comfortable silence as the pink haired girl fed him the rest of his lunch.

* * *

The two pink heads finished their lunches and packed up their bentos.

Lotus sighed, "This is not good Saiki. If your body isn't responding properly you could seriously hurt someone during the sports day games."

 _"I've gotta go home."_

"Saiki! Lotus!" Nendou's voice rang out as he searched for the two.

 _"Crap!_

Saiki got into a running man's position putting a hand on the ground. _"Alright teleport!"_

Lotus stood confused as Saiki didn't go anywhere. She was about to put her hand on Saiki's shoulder, so she could use her powers to teleport him home but at that moment Nendou appeared from behind the corner.

"Hey, private stretching?" Nendou asked

 _"It's no good. My powers are messed up."_

"Hey, you alright?" Nendou asked when Saiki didn't move from his runners' position. "Maybe you should go home early?" He suggested

 _"That might be my opening."_

* * *

Nendou, Saiki, and Lotus made their way back to their classmates. Nendou informed them about Saiki not feeling well and they all agreed that it'd be best for him to go home.

"Sorry to hear your sick bro," Hairo said

"Need help getting home?" Kaidou asked

Soon all of his classmates were chiming in.

"How are you feeling?"

"Drink lots of water!"

"Don't worry about the team."

"Yeah, we're gonna the afternoon events in your honor!" Hairo declared

"Just go home and relax."

 _"Don't say that."_

"Let's win it all for Saiki!" Hairo cheered getting his classmates riled up.

"YEAH!"

"Never forget what he did for us!" Hairo cheered

 _"Now I can't leave."_

Lotus gave Saiki a sympathetic look.

* * *

"Let's hear it for the amazing Chouno!" The PA system announced

Lotus was a bit surprised when she saw the magician Chouno walking away with his assistant Michael.

 _"When did those two get here?"_

"The first event of the afternoon is tug-of-war!"

"Alright, guys and gals these are the team events. While we may be at the bottom right now. That's about change!" Hairo declared

 _"He didn't do any events did he?"_

 _"No. No, he did not."_

* * *

Lotus along with the rest of the girls watched as the boys of their class pulled trying to win tug-of-war. All the boys were shouting and straining to pull the rope while the very indifferent Saiki kept his neutral look showing no signs of this activity being any bit difficult.

"Pull! Pull! Pull! Come on don't give up! Never give up! Pull!" Hairo shouted

 _"Stop talking and pull. I don't even like gym when I'm healthy but now I gotta do tug-of-war like this."_

The was a snapping sound and Saiki paused looking down at his hands. Lotus who had been paying extra close attention to Saiki paled when she spotted the thick rope in his hands had snapped in half.

 _"Crap!"_

"Huh!? It's suddenly got light!" A guy on the back end of Saiki shouted

 _"Gotta stall!"_ Saiki tugged the ropes bringing them close together.

"Ah! Now its heavy again!"

 _"How'd it snap so easily. I bet I can fix it before anyone notices. Alright, this shouldn't be too hard."_ Saiki tried to put the ropes together but then something else happened. _"Again? The friction tore my gloves. I don't know what'll happen if I use psychometry now."_ Saiki effortlessly pulled the rope close and unknowingly pulled the other team….up into the air.

Everyone stared amazed and bewildered. Lotus gaped watching the other classes boys flying before they tumbled to the ground.

The referee looked confused. "Uh...Class 3 wins."

Luckily Hairo broke the strange silence. "Alright, we won!"

 _"I knew I should have stayed home. Sports day is the worst."_

* * *

People were still stunned after the whole rope pulling incident.

"Class 3 is crazy!"

"We're not crazy were just the kings of sports day!" Hairo said

"Battling real peoples kind of fun," Kaidou said

"I don't remember eating lunch," Nendou said

"The rope broke where I was holding it! I must be super strong!" Takahashi said

All of the boys stood with smug tough guy smirks trying to intimidate the other teams.

"I've never seen them so cocky before." A guy from Class 4 said

"It's the dark side of Class 3."

 _"They're not cocky just stupid."_

Lotus sweatdropped watching the guys. _"Just when I forget how dumb they are, they remind ten-fold."_

"And with the tug of war Class 3 manages to move up to fourth place!"

 _"Still two more events."_

"Class 2 is gonna beat you hands down!" Retia declared as he appeared before Saiki.

Saiki just simply walked away. _"Eh, couldn't care less."_

"Hey you respect us for being number one!" Retia shouted

 _"Again I don't care."_

"I came in last in the three-legged race, but it was worth it!" Retia said

He lost because he never left the starting line spending the entirety of the race hugging the girl who was unlucky enough to be tied to him.

 _"I can't believe your bragging about how that went down."_

 _"He came in last at the three-legged but won gold at being a pervert."_

"Just don't feel too bad when we win," Retia said

 _"For the last time, I don't care about who wins."_

"Hey!" Hairo shouted. "Sorry Retia but Class 3 is winning this! In fact, if Class 3 lost to yours I'll buzzcut my hair."

"There's no way," Retia said

"Yes, way! That's how much I believe in us!" Hairo declared

 _"Please don't."_

"Yeah if we lose…."

"We'll all get a buzzcut!" The Class 3 boys declared

 _"Slow down."_

Lotus was suddenly really glad she was a girl. She grabbed at her pink locks that she so much enjoyed.

"You can count me in too. Of course there's no way I'd let us lose," Kaidou said

 _"Where are you getting this confidence from?"_

"I want in on this buzzcut bet too!" Nendou said

 _"In your case, a buzzcut's an improvement. Well, I know whats next."_

"We all share in the glory or every guy in Class 3 will get a buzzcut!" Hairo declared

 _"We are gonna look so dumb."_

Retia faced Lotus, "Hey Lotus lets you and I make a little wager of our own. If I win-"

"Nope!" She stated quickly cutting him off.

"You didn't even let me finish!" Retia exclaimed

"You didn't need to. I don't need to read your mind to know I want no part in your bets," Lotus said

* * *

"Next event is the bean bag toss."

 _"If we're gonna turn it around its gotta be this event."_

"Our big comeback starts now!" Hairo shouted

The referee shot off his starter pistol and all the classes scrambled throwing dozens of bean bags.

Lotus scooped up a large amount in her arms and threw each of the bean bags one by one into the basket.

"Whoa, girl buddy your good!" Nendou acclaimed

"Thanks! It's kind of like basketball but a bit easier since bean bags are so small and this basket is so big." Lotus said

Next to Lotus was Kitaro who was trying his best to toss his bean bags, although due to his small stature even with all his strength Kitaro's tosses often stopped short most of his bean bags not making it in. Smiling Lotus got an idea.

"Whoa!" Kitaro gasped as he was lifted up.

Lotus smiled as she had Kitaro on her shoulders just like she had done earlier in their volleyball match. "Alright Kitaro. Now that you have a better height you can get more in! Let's give it our all in this game!"

"R-Right!" Kitaro declared getting a more determined look. With his increased height he was able to get more bean bags in the basket, while Lotus continued to throw her's while keeping Kitaro steady on her shoulders.

 _"That girl can be a real beast when it comes to sports."_

While Lotus was doing her part to win Saiki was doing his part. Using his psychic powers he was able to slow down the bean bags as his classmates threw them, causing them to stop for a brief second and land directly in the net.

The pistol went off again signaling the end of the game.

"Alright that's time! Class 1, 330 bean bags. Class 2, 280. Class 3, 830."

"We tripled them all!" Class 3 cheered

"Alright!" Lotus shouted

"Class 4, 1000."

"What!"

"It's not that difficult if you use your head." The Class 4 Rep, Tanihara, said

Everyone looked over at Class 4's basket to see all the bean bags had been stuffed in a large plastic bag, then the bag had been thrown in the basket.

"What the hell is that!?"

"Well, what does it look like? Everyone in Class 4 put their bean bags in one larger bag. That way we threw them all in the basket at once." Tanihara explained

 _"Wow, that's not smart that's just cheating."_

"Now now guys don't go using the C word. The rules say nothing about putting your bean bags into one big bag."

 _"Well, they should."_

Suddenly everyone felt a chill run down their spine.

 _"What's with this ominous feeling?"_

Standing behind Tanihara was a rather scary sight. A very pissed off Lotus was glaring at the Class 4 Rep, you could practically see the fires of anger burning behind her. A panicking Kitaro stood next to her trying to calm her down.

"I don't care if we beat the other classes as long as we beat his!" Lotus shouted pointing at the smug Tanihara.

"Lotus-san please calm down!" Kitaro cried

"Never! He's going down!" Lotus shouted her eyes igniting.

 **Off on the sidelines with Ethan, Sir Henry, and Helios.**

 _"~Cheating, how low.~"_

"Give him your all my young descendant! Show him how a true warrior wins with honor!" Helios shouted

"Go Lotus! Go Lotus! Don't let some smug elite beat you!" Ethan cheered

 **Back to the group**

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Lotus shouted as if she was charging up with power. "I won't let Class 4 win!"

 _"I didn't think it was possible for someone to be more intense than Hairo."_

* * *

"There just one more event. Interclass relay race. Whichever team wins this race will get a whopping 500 points added to their overall score. Saiki," Hairo face the boy in question, "I want you to run anchor."

 _"If I say no this will only get more difficult. I'll finish third again like I did in the first race."_

Running first for the relay was Kaidou and everyone knows why.

"Ready, set, go!"

The boys took off running.

"Go Kaidou!"

Kaidou, still the slowest out of the pack, passed the baton off to Takahashi. The green haired boy was the last to pass of his baton too.

Luckily his next pass was to Nendou. He ran rather odd in fact it was almost disturbing reminding many of a scarecrow that had come to life, but even with is his odd running style he was able to close the gap Kaidou and Takahashi had created.

 _"He's even creepier at high speeds."_

Lotus was stationed third to last and when it was her turn she'd be passing the baton off to Hairo. When the baton was passed to her Lotus took off tearing through the track like a monster.

"Ahhhhh I won't lose!" Lotus shouted

"And look at Lotus of Class 3 go! She easily takes over all of her opponents!"

"Whoa, that girl is amazing!"

"What kind of speed demon is she!?"

Lotus was not using her psychic powers to speed so fast, no, this was the pure power of an enraged fired up Lotus.

Lotus passed everyone and was the first to reach the next person in line, an eager Hairo.

"Great work! Now to get this Saiki-gah!" Hairo ran but ended up tripping exposing his butt cheeks to the world.

 _"S-Seriously?"_ Lotus thought

Kaidou and Nendou both yelled at Hairo, who was face down in the dirt.

 _"I knew he'd show it at one point."_

Over in the stands, Ethan screeched. "Lotus evade your eyes! Don't let yourself be tainted by that dirty boys' indecency!"

 _"At least this time it won't look suspicious when I finish last."_

Saiki was going to stick to his plan that is until the Tanihara opened his mouth.

"We're totally gonna win now." Things got worse when his thoughts invaded Saiki and Lotus's mind. _"~Nothing wrong with tripping someone if no one sees you.~_ "

 _"Well, now that changes everything. You should have kept quiet."_

 _"Saiki…."_

Saiki faced Lotus, who was giving him a bright smile. _"I want you-"_ Lotus gave Saiki thumbs up. _"-to end him!"_ She then ran her thumb over her neck in a cutting motion.

Saiki was going to do just that.

"I'm sorry I fell!" Hairo shouted running to Saiki holding out the baton.

 _"It's not your fault it's his!"_ Saiki easily caught the baton and shot off like a bullet. _"Payback time!"_

Saiki flew threw the other classes knocking the other racers off their feet.

"What the heck this guy is flying!"

"Once again Class 3 takes the lead!"

"Go Saiki! Win it all!" Lotus cheered out loud

 _"I hate the attention but at least this way I'll avoid a buzzcut."_

Suddenly Saiki's body seized up, and he fell forward falling a few inches short of the finish line.

 _"Oh, right...I'm having trouble controlling my body."_

The boys from Class 1 and 3 passed Saiki and fast approaching was the runner for Class 4.

 _"Oh hell no!"_

Using her psychic powers Lotus flung Saiki up getting him to his legs.

 _"Saiki go! You can still beat that smug know-it-all cheater!"_

Saiki stepped forward crossing over the finish line getting Class 3 third place.

* * *

Sports Day finally came to an end. Saiki was grabbing his stuff wanting to get home after today's events.

"Hey, Saiki. How about I get us home?" Lotus offered

Saiki nodded his head wanting to leave and put today's events behind him. Lotus put a hand on Saiki's shoulder and the two vanished.

Saiki expected to end up home but was mistaken when he and Lotus ended up in the shopping district.

 _"What are we doing here?"_

"Wait here, Saiki!" Lotus started to run off not really answering Lotus's question.

 _"Where are you going?"_

"Just hold on okay! I'll be just a minute!"

Lotus disappeared around the corner and like the good almost-friend he was, not that he ever say that, he waited for Lotus.

After about 10 minutes Lotus came back, she was smiling while she held something behind her back.

 _"What do you have? And why are you smiling?"_

"TA-DA!" Lotus smiled displaying what she had been hiding.

Saiki was surprised to see it was a pack of some coffee pudding, and a good quality too.

"I thought after the tough you had, you deserved it. Especially since you beat that smug guy from Class 4. So here's a reward and a pick me up, from one friend to another," Lotus said

Saiki stunned, although his face didn't really show it and he took the treat from Lotus. When their hands brushed Saiki felt a small jolt go through him, and he quickly grabbed the pudding pulling his hand away from Lotus. He briefly glanced down at his hand wondering if Lotus had felt that too. He looked at the girl to see her pulling out a pink popsicle happily eating it. He thought maybe it had to do with the fact that is gloves were gone, completely omitting the fact that his psychometry wouldn't work on Lotus.

Lotus smiled the popsicle stick sticking out her mouth. "Now don't go denying that we're not becoming friends Saiki." Lotus elbowed Saiki. "I know you're warming up to me. You might not see me as a friend yet but one of these days you're gonna admit how you feel and I'll be there relish in the fact that I finally made you my friend. Just you wait that day shall come!"

Saiki had to turn away from Lotus to hide his small amused smile.

She didn't know how right she was.

* * *

Saiki was not in the best mood. He along with Hairo, Kaidou, and Nendou now sported buzzcuts.

"Looking good there buddy," Hairo said

 _"Shut up, Hairo."_

"Hey, Saiki," Kaidou greeted

Kaidou looked the most ridiculous since he didn't get a buzzcut but actually shaved his whole head bald.

 _"Whoa, you went all out."_

"What's going on with your hair it looks so weird," Nendou laughed

 _"We have the same cut."_

Weirdly enough Nendou's haircut looked great on him.

When the four boys made it to class they were surprised to see none of the other guys had buzzcuts. Lotus who had come to class earlier had to quickly cover her mouth to hold back her laughter.

"Where are your buzzcuts?" Hairo asked

"We only had to do it if we lost to Class 2, and we beat them," A guy said

"Oh wow," The buzzcut quartet said

* * *

The whole walk home Lotus had been covering her mouth trying to avoid looking at Saiki. Saiki knew the girl wanted to laugh, she spent the entirety of class sneaking glances at him stifling her laughter and that didn't stop even when she and Saiki headed home.

 _"Alright just get it out."_

"W-W-" Lotus snorted trying to cover her giggles doing her best to hide her obvious smile. "W-What are talking about?"

 _"I can see your smile."_

Lotus turned away from Saiki hunching over, her shoulders shaking. "Smile? What smile? I'm not smiling."

Even in her thoughts, Lotus was struggling to think without laughter. She really couldn't help it. Saiki with a buzzcut was one of the funniest things she'd ever seen.

Lotus held up a finger. "Saiki just give me a moment will you." She slid away from Saiki going around a corner of a building.

"Hahahahahahahahah! Oh my god! Hahahahaha!"

Lotus's laughter echoed through the neighborhood. Saiki sighed, but he really couldn't be mad, not when Lotus was so happy.

Lotus came back around the corner calmed down having gotten out all her laughter.

"Can I get a picture?"

 _"NO!"_


	19. Fire Safety Drill

**ShootingStar710 :** Don't worry I may update erratically but the story won't be stopped.

* * *

 **Fire Safety Drill! Not Thinking Isn't All That Safe!**

Lotus sat next to Saiki in class.

 _"You know what Saiki I'm a little sad."_

 _"Sad? About what?"_

 _"I'm sad to see your buzzcut go. It was so short-lived."_

Saiki gave Lotus a mini glare, and said girl just silently snickered to herself.

"Alright everyone listen up!" Hairo called out getting everyone's attention. "Today we're doing a safety drill!"

 _"Safety drill? Okay."_

 _"Huh? Hairo's voice sounds so official, calm, and measured. I'm surprised."_

Nendou scoffed. "I don't need a drill I'll be fine."

"Nendou, you need to take this seriously. Imagine this rooms on fire. White hot flames are everywhere. The smoke makes it impossible to see, let alone breathe." Hairo slammed his hands on Nendou's desk leaning in close to the boy. "So what then! Do you got an escape plan!? How will you know what decisions to make if you don't participate in this drill? Preparation is the key to survival!"

 _"Ah, there's the normal Hairo."_

 _"He's as hot and smothering as a fire."_

 _"Oh, good one Saiki. You know I really should start writing down the stuff you say."_

Hairo stood up from Nendou's desk walking back over to the front of the classroom.

"So when the alarm goes off follow my lead, and we'll evacuate to the courtyard." Hairo picked up some chalk and started writing on the board. "Here's an easy way to remember the correct procedure for any emergency." He wrote the letters "SOS" on the board.

"What's SOS?" Nendou questioned

 _"Huh? This is something different. With the other schools I went to their motto for fires were duck, cover, and roll. So now I'm wondering what does SOS stand for?"_

 _"If I remember correctly from grade school it means slow, orderly, and silence."_

 _"Ah, makes sense."_

"Oh, I know what it means!" Nendou exclaimed. "Save Our Selves. S.O.S."

 ** _"That's terrible."_**

"Yeah, that's the plan but it doesn't mean that," Hairo said

"Well how about, Someone! Over here! Save me!" Nendou shouted

 _"You're on your own pal."_

Kaidou started chuckling at his desk. "Each of your guesses is dumber than the last one."

"Alright, do you know what it means smart guy?" Nendou said

"Of course I do. Obviously, it stands for Scorching Oblivion Smackdown!" Kaidou stated

The classroom grew silent everyone staring at Kaidou.

"Hah, I was just joking, it means Slow, Orderly, and Silent. Right," Kaidou said

 _"Whoa, that was actually pretty funny. Score one for Kaidou."_

"Yeah, you got it. Now everyone just remember those simple rules, and we'll ace this drill." Hairo said

Just as he finished speaking the fire alarm started blaring.

"The first-floor science lab is on fire. Please evacuate." The PA system announced

 _"This is important. We should pay attention."_ Saiki cut his eyes to Nendou who was standing up not paying attention to Hairo.

"Stay calm everyone." Hairo held up an orange safety hood. "Open your bag and get your safety hood. After that stand in line by student number."

Lotus grabbed her hood examining it. "Neat. They didn't have anything like this in my old schools."

Several other students, mainly the male ones, seemed to be struggling with their safety hood. That's due to the fact that they didn't have theirs.

"Oh crap, I'm pretty sure I left my hood at home." One guy mumbled

That didn't go unheard, especially not by Hairo.

The fiery redhead, who had been wiping off the chalkboard, threw the eraser he was using in the air running over to the guy.

"Seriously?! If this was an actual fire obviously you'd be smoldering ashes!" Hairo shouted

 _"Don't be dramatic."_

Teruhashi stood up from her locker, "Oh no I can't seem to find my safety hood."

"Oh come on! Not you too!" Hairo shouted

Teruhashi didn't have anything to worry about though. Within a matter of seconds, she was swarmed by several guys offering her their hoods. One even jumped over a desk to get to the girl.

"But if I take all of yours you'll die," Teruhashi said

"She's right! This is not a safe plan," Hairo said

The male students got smug confident looks on their faces.

"Sacrifice-"

"Ourselves to-"

"Save her!"

"Oh….okay," Hairo said sweat-dropping.

 _"~Saying nary a word. They'd Offer me theirs. They're my love Slaves….Tee-hee,~"_ Teruhashi thought

This time Lotus sweatdropped, _"This class is ridiculous."_

 _"You said it."_

* * *

Everyone finally filed out of the room getting in line.

"Okay let's move out," Hairo announced

"Hold on I forgot my phone." Takahashi tried to get out of line.

"Stop there! Out of line is too dangerous! Stay in place!" Hairo said

 _"Everyone's trying way too hard to do SOS abbreviations now. It's all I'm hearing."_

Lotus wasn't really paying any attention instead her focus was on Saiki, or rather his safety hood. His antenna were sticking out of the hood like they were an accessory apart of the hood itself.

 _"How in world did he do that?"_ Lotus pondered

"Stop it guys! Obviously, a fire drill isn't the time for Stupid arguments." Kaidou said

* * *

Hairo led his classmates through the hallways and downstairs.

"Okay, guys were almost there just-AAAAHHHHH!" Hairo shouted as he pointed forward. "Stop! Our path leading out! Shudders before us!"

The hallways had been blocked off by some metal shutters.

"Oh come on!"

"Seriously!"

"If this were real we'd be dead!"

Everyone starts complaining about their blocked exit. Nendou was just looking rather bored while Kaidou was having a mini panic attack.

"I guess someone locked it by mistake," Teruhashi voiced

 _"No, this route has been closed for good reason."_

 _"Hey, isn't the science room on the other side of this shudder?"_

 _"Yeah, in this drill the lab is on fire."_

 _"Oh, I get it! If this were a real emergency we wouldn't be able to get through the hallways due to the fire in the science room."_

 _"In other words, they're testing to see how well we paid attention and if we'd make the safer choice of using the back stairs."_

 _"Which of course we didn't."_

"Stay calm. Obviously. There's a Solution for this. Yes that's it I understand why they locked us in," Hairo said

 _"Well better late than never."_

"They're testing our physical strength. Yeah, that's the only explanation! We don't have to send out an SOS when we can save ourselves. Which means in order to get out we have to break down that shutter!" Hairo declared

 _"Well Saiki, I guess in this case it's never."_

"Alright!" Hairo held up a fire extinguisher. "Let's break it down, boys!"

"YAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

All the boys followed Hairo's example picking up random objects attacking the shutter. The only male who didn't participate was Saiki.

 _"In a real fire, they'd be the first to die."_

* * *

Much to Lotus's surprise, the guys were able to pry open the shutter door and the class made their way out of the school through the front door. Waiting for the class was Coach Matsuzaki who promptly gathered all of the boys in the class who had participated in the deconstruction of the shutter door.

"So...you wrenched open a metal shutter and ran out the front door. I see….why would you animals break our new shutter!" Matsuzaki started yelling at the boys, who all had been forced into a kneeling position before the angry teacher.

"We literally installed that thing last week losers! So what are you going to do you, idiots!? Shutters are expensive to fix!"

"We're sorry!" A distressed boy cried

 _"I tried to warn them."_

 _"No, you didn't."_ Lotus giggled

 _"Well not directly, but still….anyway this school doesn't need to bother with emergency drills. After all…."_

Lotus watched Saiki's eyes flash blue, and he snapped his fingers.

 _"So long as I'm here, Ordeals such as fires, Simply will not happen."_

 _"I wanna point out he did the SOS thing too, but dang he just looks so cool right now."_

Saiki's cool moment was interrupted when Coach Matsuzaki's voice shouted out in the background, "As punishment, you're all getting buzzcuts!"

"Yes, it returns!" Lotus cheered, "Saiki this time let me get a picture."

 _"Never."_


	20. The Teruhashi Problem!

**Trexilla -** Unfortunately I can't update 10 times a day but I'll try my best.

* * *

 **The Teruhashi Problem! - Or Rather Lotus's Teruhashi Dilemma!**

"Lotus where are you going?" Violet stopped her sister as she was leaving the house.

"I'm just heading to the park," Lotus said

"The park!" Violet smiled. "Ethan!" She called upstairs.

 _"Crap."_

"Yes, my love?" Ethan asked peeking around the corner of the stairs.

"Ethan, Lotus is heading to the park we must pick out the perfect outfit!" Violet declared

Ethan got just as excited as Violet. "Right we must dress Lotus in a way that extenuates her cuteness."

"I was so close, why must they do this whenever I'm not wearing my uniform."

"But if we dress Lotus too cute she'll draw the unwanted eyes of perverts," Violet said

Ethan gasped, "Your right!"

"But no matter what Lotus wears she's the cutest thing!" Violet said

"Your right again!" Ethan said

"It's truly a dilemma," Violet cried

 _"Just let me leave already."_

* * *

Lotus was finally able to leave the house but not without wearing one of Ethan's outfits that is. She had on a butterfly themed sundress. The dress was dark blue and pink with the pattern of butterflies flying across the skirt. It was off the shoulder with ruffle poofy sleeves. She also had on a pair of wedge sandals that had pink butterflies on the buckle.

Lotus calmly walked down the street without a real care in the world. As she made her way another person came running down the adjacent street. He turned a corner and before Lotus could even register the guys' thoughts he ran head first into the girl knocking them both to the ground.

 _"Ow, that hurt."_

Lotus tried to sit up but there was a heavy weight on her lap.

 _"Uhhhhh….."_

Lotus started blinking as a guy stared back at her. His eyes were wide, and he looked rather fearful for some reason.

"Ummm would you mind getting up?" Lotus asked

The guy slowly got off Lotus, and she stood up dusting off her dress. She noticed something on the ground and spotted a pair of sunglasses.

 _"They must have fallen off when he ran into me."_

Lotus reached down picking up the eyewear. She noticed that the sunglasses had a scuff on it from hitting the ground, so she took out her pink embroidered handkerchief. She wiped the sunglasses off before handing them over to the guy.

"Here you go."

The guy now looked stunned as he slowly took the glasses from Lotus. He stared at Lotus as if waiting for her to do something else.

"Uhh...see ya," Lotus waved as she walked away.

The guy continued to stare at Lotus as she walked away.

 _"~What….just happened?! Why didn't she go crazy over me?! She didn't ask for an autograph, or a photo, she didn't squeal or gush! She didn't try to steal my sunglasses and even cleaned them off. What is going on here?! Does she not know who I am? No that's impossible! Every girl knows who I am and even if she doesn't recognize me, my face is flawless everyone adores it. I must find out what she is!~"_

Hearing those thoughts Lotus started to briskly walk turning a corner.

 _"I guess I'm taking the long way to the park."_

As Lotus left the scene the boy ran after her.

 _"~W-Where did she go?~"_

As Lotus turned a corner her pink hair fluttered behind her catching the guy's attention.

 _"~There she is!~"_

He quickly ran after her following the trail of flashing pink hair. He did this for several streets before Lotus finally lost him when a large crowd came by.

 _"~She vanished! Did I imagine her? No, we ran into one another.~"_ The guy looked down and saw a familiar piece of pink cloth. He reached down picking it up. _"~Could this have been run in of fate?~"_

* * *

Lotus sat on a bench alone watching people enjoy the park.

 _"Ah, the park. The perfect place to observe and work on telepathy."_

Lotus observed a couple jogging by.

 _"~I love that I finally found a guy who can keep up with me, and loves exercising and eating healthy just as much as I do!~"_ The woman thought.

 _"~This sucks! I hate working out! It's a good thing she's so hot! As soon as I get home I'm having a burger,~"_ The guy thought

Lotus sweat dropped watching the couple jog on.

She next spotted an elderly man feeding some birds.

 _"~Feeding the birds is always so peaceful.~"_ The man thought

 _"~Bread bread bread bread bread bread bread bread bread bread bread bread!~"_ Was the constant chanting thoughts that ran through the birds head.

 _"Talk about one track minds."_

 _"~AHHHHH! HE'S HERE!~"_

Lotus had to catch herself from falling off the bench as a loud squeal from someone's thoughts struck her mind.

 _"The heck was that?"_

 _"~Picture picture!~"_

 _"~He's so handsome!~"_

 _"~I'm going to be his future wife!~"_

 _"~I wonder if I can get a lock of his hair!~"_

Lotus looked around the park trying to locate the onslaught of shrieking girls thoughts. Looking behind her she was able to spot a gaggle of girls gathered around someone.

 _"~So annoying!~"_ A male voice thought

She narrowed her eyes and was able to see who the girls were crowding.

 _"Hey, it's that guy from before."_

Lotus watched as the guy was swarmed in a wave of screaming girls.

 _"Those girls are going to suffocate him. Is he some kind of celebrity. Oh, that must be why he was running earlier to escape rabid fans. He must have come to the park for a nice day out too but got swarmed again. He was probably acting so weird because I didn't act like a crazed fan, but then again I don't know who he is. Still, a celebrity is a person too."_

Lotus stood up walking over to the mob.

Mugami Touru, or rather Makoto Teruhashi was trying his best not to have an outburst but these women were maddening. They were pushing and shoving, grabbing at him pulling on his clothing.

"You girls are all acting pathetic."

All of the girls gasped and turned towards the source of the voice.

Lotus stood off to the side a scolding look in her face as her hands rested on her hips.

"If you even think for one minute this guy is gonna give any of you a second glance then your dead wrong," Lotus said

"How dare you who-!"

"Be quiet!" Lotus shouted making the girl shut up. "Do you really think mobbing a guy is a way to get him to like you. No! It just annoys him, it sets a bad image when you just crowd around him like a pack of wolves. If you wanna a picture or an autograph at least act like a civilized woman and kindly ask for one don't go swarming the poor guy. He's a person just like you and I, and I'm pretty sure he didn't want to spend his free time being pulled on like a rag doll."

Many of the girls glared as Lotus walked up.

She ignored the stares and grabbed the guy's wrist pulling him out of the crowd. Lotus stood tall and imposing over the girls not backing down or showing any fear.

"Do you think for a second a guy would want to date a girl who's pulling on him or trying to steal some of his hair? No. It's fine to like and admire someone but don't forget to treat them with respect and dignity like every human deserves."

Lotus walked off dragging the stunned guy with her leaving behind an equally stunned mob of girls.

* * *

Lotus led the mystery celebrity, well to her at least, over to the bench she had previously been occupying. He didn't move and just stared at Lotus, so she lightly grasped his shoulders and sat him on the bench.

"You doing okay?" Lotus asked

"Is there something you want?" Makoto asked

"Huh?" Lotus said confused

"Everyone always wants something," Makoto said

 _"I guess it's not wrong for him to say something like that."_

"Well, I didn't ask for anything when I first ran into you. Why would I need anything now? Although a nice treat sounds good about now." Lotus giggled. "But I can get that myself. Can't I just help a guy out when he's in trouble? You were in need of help, so I gave it to you, as simple as that." Lotus winked giving the guy a smile. "No charge at all. Everyone deserves a peaceful relaxing day in the park. If you have any trouble with those girls again I could walk you home or something. I'm gonna stop and get something to eat too you can join me, and don't worry I'll pay. My treat to make you feel better about your crazy day."

 _"~This-this is impossible.~"_

 _"Huh?"_

Makoto stared at Lotus as if he was staring at the sun and had gone blind or something. To him, he could see an amazing bright pink halo of light illuminating her being.

 _"Why is he looking at me like that?"_

 _"~This feeling…~"_ Makoto finally moved grabbing at his heart falling off the bench and to his knees.

Lotus looked confused and slightly scared as the boy gripped tightly at the front of his shirt. "Are you okay?"

 _"~My heart….~"_

 _"His heart? Crap! Is he having a heart attack or something?! At his age?! No that's a dumb thought! Maybe it's a bad case of heartburn!"_

"Hey! If you're not feeling well just sit down." Lotus helped him back to the bench. "Do you need some water or something? Should I call someone for you?"

Makoto shook his head. He looked away from Lotus still clutching at his heart as his cheeks turned pink. "N-No I'm fine."

 _"~Her kindness knows no bounds.~"_

"That's good. You must have been overwhelmed by that mob of girls." Lotus said

 _"~Her voice it's as if the sweetest music is being played, filling my every being, and she stood so magnificently against those ravenous fans.~"_ Makoto thought

 _"That's a strange set of thoughts."_

"Just sit here and catch your breath. See ya and try not to get mobbed again." Lotus was about to walk away when her hand was grabbed. She looked back to see Makoto holding onto her hand.

 _"What is he doing?"_

 _"~She so dazzling she's nothing but pure radiance,~"_ Makoto had a smile on his face as he held onto Lotus's hand stroking the top and palm of her hand with his thumbs.

 _"~Her hands are so soft and warm.~"_ Makoto brought Lotus's hands up to his cheek and started rubbing his cheek against her hands.

 _"Okay, this needs to end."_

Lotus snatched her hand back. "I gotta go."

"W-Wait!" Makoto called out reaching out to Lotus. "Please tell me your name!"

 _"After that whole stroking and rubbing of my hands' thing. Nope, not happening."_

Lotus turned away from Makoto. "I don't give my name to strangers."

Makoto got a determined looking down at his hands. _"~No, I can't let it end like this! I must know this flawless angels name.~"_ He looked back up at Lotus already at the park's exit. _"~She's walking away!~"_

As Lotus walked away she could still hear Makoto's thoughts.

 _"~Don't worry my angel I'll find you no matter because one day….I'm going to marry that pink haired goddess.~"_

Lotus almost tripped at that.

 _"Huh?!"_

* * *

Makoto was at home sitting at his desk staring fondly at a pink handkerchief. Embroidered in gold lettering was the name Lotus.

"Lotus what a lovely name…."

Makoto picked up the cloth and brought it to his nose inhaling taking in the scent.

"So lovely…."

* * *

Only a day passed before Lotus got a rather surprising surprise

 ***DING DONG***

"Delivery!"

Ethan, Violet, and Lotus, who were all gathered in the living room watching television, looked away hearing the commotion from the front door.

"Delivery? Did you guys order something?" Violet asked

Both Ethan and Lotus shook their heads no. Lotus got up walking over to the door answering it.

A delivery man stood there with what looked like an exhausted smile with a large box next to him.

"Ah, are you?" The man looked down at his clipboard reading something, "The pink haired goddess?"

 _"The pink haired who now?"_

"I believe this is for you Miss," The Delivery Man gestured to the package.

 _"I'm scared to ask from whom."_

"Oh there's one more thing," The Delivery Man set down his clipboard and walked back over to his truck. He grabbed something large out the back and walked back over to Lotus setting it in front of her.

"Here you go, Miss!" The Delivery Man smiled

 _"S-Seriously?"_

Lotus grimaced frowning as she studied the object. Before her was a large, no giant, flower wreath with a picture in the middle of it. The picture being of the good-looking celebrity guy Lotus had run into twice the other day.

He was posing in the picture hand on his chin and was giving a wink. Underneath the picture was a note saying "To My Pink Angel with all my heart."

 _"Don't tell me all this package is from that guy?"_

"Lotus what's going on?"

Violet and Ethan appeared at the door, and they both paused seeing the "lovely" display.

 _"Crap….."_ Lotus slowly turned her head and took a step back seeing the dark look on Ethan and Violet's faces.

"So our little Lotus has got herself an admirer," Ethan said

"And he knows where she lives," Violet added

Violet suddenly smiled at the Delivery Man. "Thank you so much, sir! We can take it from here!"

The Delivery Man smiled back nodding to Violet. "Have a good day Miss!"

The man got back in his truck and drove away. When he was far enough Violet dropped her smile and turned around kicking the flower stand. She had a dark gleeful smile on her face as she stomped on the guys' picture.

"Die! I hate his smug pretty boy smirk!" Violet shouted as she dug her heel into the guys' photo.

"You show him my warrior, Violet!" Ethan cheered

 _"You two are starting to freak me out."_

* * *

The three took the box into the house after Ethan dumped the crushed flower wreath in the trash cans.

 _"What is even in this box?"_

Lotus opened the box and saw it was filled with various gifts, that she assumed guys thought girls liked.

 _"Makeup and perfume? And it's an expensive brand too."_

"That little punk!" Violet shouted. "How dare he send Lotus makeup! Her natural cuteness doesn't need any makeup!"

Lotus dug a little more in the box and found a dress, she was too scared to wonder if it would be the right size or not.

Ethan glared as he stared at the dress as if it had committed some kind of heinous crime against him. His glare was so heated Lotus wouldn't have been surprised if the piece of clothing caught on fire.

"I make all of Lotus's clothes. This trash is beneath my cute little Lotus," Ethan darkly stated

"I know let's use pretty boys gifts as kindling for the fireplace," Violet declared with a smile.

"Violet you read my mind!" Ethan grinned

 _"I….should have seen that one coming."_


	21. Kitaro's Problem

_This is Lotus_

 _This is Saiki_

 ** _Lotus and Saiki_**

 _~The thoughts of others~_

* * *

 **Nix 012 -** Huh, I wasn't even thinking about how they were similar.

 **Ultimate re reader -** I've got special plans for the Teruhashi/Lotus thing.

* * *

 **Kitaro's Problem - Man Her Family's Scary!**

Lotus was on break walking in the hallways of her school. There were only a few other students in the hallway as well. As Lotus made her way down the hall someone new enters coming from around the corner.

 _"Oh, it's Kitaro-kun."_

The short boy was carrying a stack of two boxes, his head barely peeking over the objects in his hand.

 _"Is he gonna be okay? It doesn't look too heavy for him but he can barely see."_

Lotus made her way over to Kitaro going to ask if he needed help but when she was only a few steps away Kitaro tripped.

"Ah!" Kitaro yelped as he fell forward.

Lotus acting quickly ran appearing in front of Kitaro. Using her psychic powers she forced the boxes upright catching them in her left hand holding them as a waitress would do in a restaurant. She used her right arm and caught Kitaro, no psychic powers needed, the boy was pretty light.

"Whoa, you okay there?" Lotus asked

"Yeah," Kitaro groaned. "I'm fine. Thank you for catching me."

 _"~How embarrassing to fall like that. But Lotus-san caught me. She's so cool.~"_

Lotus internally chuckled at Kitaro's thoughts.

She helped the short boy stand right up. "What happened?"

"My pant legs came undone," Kitaro said

"Undone?" Lotus questioned

She looked down seeing Kitaro's pant legs were pretty long the bottoms dragging on the floor.

Kitaro nodded his head. "Yeah. My pant legs are too long. I got the smallest school uniform but it's still too big, and right now my family can't afford the extra cost to get them tailored to my size."

"I see. Is that why you have your shirt sleeves rolled up too?" Lotus asked

"Yeah. The same thing goes for my jacket, too big as well." Kitaro held up his arm to show the sleeves came all the way down to his fingertips. "I tried rolling those up too but I got busted for violating the dress code."

 _"You got busted for dress code? And yet we have such strange characters running around the school dressed ridiculously."_

"Hmmm?" Lotus studied the shorter boy an idea coming to mind. "I know what to do!"

"Huh?" Kitaro stated confused

"Your coming to my house after school." Lotus declared

"Huh?" Kitaro sounded again.

"But first we gotta stop by your place and get all your uniforms," Lotus said

"Huh?" Kitaro repeated for the third time.

* * *

"Here we are!" Lotus smiled presenting her home to Kitaro.

"Are you sure it's okay for me to come?" Kitaro asked

"Yes, yes, it's fine," Lotus said

She opened the door to her home allowing Kitaro to enter before she followed.

"Ethan! Violet! Sir Henry! I'm home and I brought a friend!" Lotus called out.

"Sorry for the intrusion," Kitaro quietly spoke as he took off his shoes.

"Hey is anyone home? Ethan? Violet? I got a new friend he-"

 **"HE!"**

Kitaro jumped at the loud angry screech that sounded from upstairs. The short boy felt his nerves quiver as he heard loud pounding footsteps as someone booked it towards the stairway.

A seething Ethan appeared at the top of the stairs glowering.

"Pretty boy!" Ethan yelled charging at Kitaro and Lotus. "What do you think you're doing here with my precious little Lotus!? You've got some guts entering this home!"

Kitaro's body shook terrified, due to the barking Ethan. Was is just Kitaro's imagination or was the older man foaming at the mouth?

Lotus came to Kitaro's rescue as she easily pushed back the seething Ethan, putting distance between him and Kitaro. "Stop you're scaring him. Ethan, Kitaro is a friend of mine. Kitaro, Ethan is-"

Ethan grabbed Lotus wrapping her up in a protective yet crushing hug. "I'm Lotus's big brother. Don't you dare think that you'll lay a single hand on her. I can see it in your big sparkly eyes, the evil plans you have in store. You want to taint my precious little innocent Lotus don't you!"

Lotus sweatdropped in Ethan's arms as Kitaro trembled where he stood.

 _"~This guy is scary!~"_ Kitaro thought

"Oh my, what's going on here?" Violet came bounding in the room a bright smile on her face. "Did what I hear was correct? My sweet little Lotus brought home a new friend?" Violet studied Kitaro for a second before she spoke again. "Oh yes. I remember you from Lotus's sports festival video. You're the little Bishōnen."

"B-Bishōnen?" Kitaro sweatdropped

 _"She's blunt but true,"_ Lotus thought

"Violet!" Ethan shouted turning to his fiance, Lotus still clutched tightly in his overprotective hold. "This evil malicious pretty boy has come to steal away our beloved little Lotus!" Ethan's arms tightened around Lotus.

 _"I'm gonna pass out if you keep hugging me like this."_

Violet just chuckled at the two as Lotus managed to pry herself out of Ethan's tight grip.

"Violet, this is my relatively new friend Kitaro. He's got a problem and I knew how to solve it," Lotus said

"Ah how nice. My little Lotus is so kind," Violet giggled ruffling her sister's hair. She stepped up stopping before Kitaro. She held her hand out giving the short boy a smile. "It's nice to meet you in person Kitaro."

 _"~She's really nice.~"_ Kitaro sighed relaxing greatly taking Violet's hand shaking it. "It's nice to meet you too Miss Violet."

 _"She's acting relatively clam right now."_

As the two ended their handshake Violet didn't let go of Kitaro's hand but instead pulled the boy closer to her so they were face to face, mere inches from one another. Kitaro gave a silent yelp as Violet's smile got wider as it felt like the temperature of the room dropped several degrees.

"Don't think just because you're some cute pretty boy I won't have my eyes on you. You're the most dangerous of all the boys." Violet spoke smile still on her face, but a crushing threatening aura surrounded her, signaling that the young woman wasn't messing around.

The meek boy paled backing away from Violet. _"~I was wrong she's the scary one!~"_

 _"Ah, there's the real Violet."_

* * *

Ethan grumbled as he hemmed Kitaro's pants. "I'm just letting you know pretty boy that I'm only doing this because my darling little Lotus asked. Make one move on her and I won't hesitate to prod you with one of my needles."

"Y-Yes, sir!" Kitaro stuttered

 _"That's the fifth threat he's made so far."_

Off in the corner of the room sitting on a chair was Violet, giving an intimidating smile. When Ethan was done with the measurements and pinning Lotus led Kitaro out of the room, trying to get the poor boy out of the tense atmosphere.

"Make sure whatever room you go into that the door stays open!" Violet called out.

Lotus looked at Kitaro as the boy went both pale and red, from fear and embarrassment.

* * *

Kitaro and Lotus decided on the living room, there was no way Lotus was bringing Kitaro into her room. Knowing her family if Kitaro stepped within six feet of her door Ethan and Violet would pounce. So she decided if they were going to be alone that the best place would be the living room. Well, the two weren't really alone, Helios sat in the background holding his claymore over his shoulder a piercing gaze focused on Kitaro's back. Lotus was thankful that Kitaro couldn't see the spirit or he'd probably run for the hills.

"Sorry about them they get out of hand real easy," Lotus apologized to Kitaro.

"No, it's fine. It just shows that they really love you," Kitaro said

 _"~Even though they're terrifying.~"_

Lotus set down a tray of tea and some snacks she had prepared.

"Wow, this is really good," Kitaro said after taking a bite.

"Thanks, it's just something I put together real quick. Hey, maybe one day you can come over for a real meal, I do all the cooking and I promise you won't be disappointed," Lotus said

 _"~Whoa, she cooks too. Lotus-san has so many talents, she's so cool!~"_ Kitaro thought

 _"Haha, if he keeps praising me like this my ego might get out of hand."_

"I can't really cook and my mother is so busy we typically don't have anything but simple meals. She also doesn't have any extra time to pack lunches for me and my siblings." Kitaro got a panicked look on his face. "N-Not that I'm ungrateful or anything, I know she works really hard and I'm thankful for what she's done."

Kitaro cast his gaze down. _"~I really wish I could help someway. Maybe if I could cook like this my mother could have some nice meals after she gets home from work and then she wouldn't have to worry about me and my sibling's meals either.~"_

Lotus got a soft smile on her face at Kitaro's thoughts. _"Kitaro, you're a really thoughtful kind guy. You don't give yourself enough credit, the way you care for your mothers wellbeing….your cool too."_

"If you'd like Kitaro, I could teach you how to cook," Lotus offered

"R-Really?" Kitaro asked eyes wide.

"Of course." Lotus gave Kitaro a bright smile. "I'll make sure to teach you everything I know and you make sure to share your new delicious knowledge with your family."

Lotus's smile was indeed infectious because Kitaro gave a beaming one of his own back to Lotus. "Thank you Lotus-san."

"Ah," Lotus sounded remembering something. "There's one more person I'd like to introduce you to."

"O-Oh okay," Kitaro stuttered nervously once again thinking about his earlier encounters with Lotus's family members.

Lotus got up from the table going to grab a certain blue someone from her room.

 _"~Please don't let them be scary too!~"_

Lotus quickly returned hands behind her back a smile on her face. "Here we are." She held up her furry blue companion. "This is Sir Henry."

"Oh, you have a pet," Kitaro said

"Yes, he's a ferret. I rescued him after some punks were terrorizing him in an alleyway," Lotus said

 _"~She rescued him? Wow, she just keeps getting cooler!~"_

Lotus chuckled inwardly. "Here would you like to pet him?"

"Can I? He won't bite will he?" Kitaro asked

"Not unless he feels threatened. If you're nervous just hold your hand out," Lotus said

"Okay." Kitaro did so putting his hand out palm up.

Lotus moved Sir Henry closer to Kitaro and the ferret stretched his paw out, but instead of putting it on top of Kitaro's open hand his paw landed on the boy's forehead.

 _"~Your ranking is far below my own. I am your superior.~"_

"Haha, I think he likes me," Kitaro smiled

Lotus awkwardly chuckled sweatdropping. "Yeeeaaahhh."

* * *

"Alright, how do they feel?" Lotus asked

Kitaro stepped out from behind a curtain wearing his new tailored uniform. "It's perfect! Amazing I haven't had a uniform fit this well in years."

Lotus smiled turning to a pouting Ethan. "You hear that Ethan. Amazing work as always."

Ethan turned his pouting gaze to Kitaro. "I don't need pretty boy to praise me," Ethan then jumped at Lotus hugging her, "as long as I get praises from my sweet little Lotus and lovely Violet, I can face anything in the world."

Kitaro awkwardly chuckled sweatdropping as he watched the two. Lotus managed to pry herself out of Ethan's arms and turned to Kitaro.

"Ethan got two sets done, so you can have those for now. He should be able to get the rest done by the end week since he doesn't have any major projects right now. Right, Ethan?" Lotus said

Ethan nodded his head. "Yup."

"Thank you so much." Kitaro reached into his school bag pulling out his wallet. "I don't have much but-!"

Kitaro yelped as Ethan grabbed his hand forcing Kitaro to close his wallet.

"And what do you think you're doing?" Ethan asked his question coming out as threatening.

"Uh-I-I-w-was," Kitaro stuttered clearly scared not knowing what he did to provoke Ethan this time.

"Whether I like it or not you're a friend of my precious little Lotus and no friend of her's is gonna pay me," Ethan said

Kitaro calmed down at those words feeling a bit less nervous.

"Ya big softie," Lotus giggled

 _"~He's kind….but still pretty scary.~"_


	22. More Teruhashi Trouble

**Shirokicchi -** Yeah, I'm trying to avoid that by giving her normal reactions to crazy things and having her work towards everything, like developing her own psychic powers. But you are right not just any normal person can be paired off with Saiki.

 **LadySedatePhobia -** With Kokomi's brother and his sister obsession, I do have something worked out that will co-exist with his obsession with Lotus but that won't be shown until later in the story. I get your second point she doesn't need to be in everything, as I go through I'm trying to pick out what she should be cut out of. Could you further explain the mirror and contrast part about Saiki and Lotus's life, that comment I don't fully understand. The Spirit part, haha, I completely forgot. Now that you addressed it though I can add it to the story.

 **VeneratedCryptum -** Yes! More Saiki fics are needed!

* * *

 _This is Lotus_

 _This is Saiki_

 _~This is the thoughts of others.~_

 **More Teruhashi Trouble! - Not For Saiki But For Lotus!**

Teruhashi smiled walking down the hallways of her school. Passing by a classroom she heard some chatter coming from it. The door was slightly ajar, allowing the voices from within to flood into the hallways. She was simply going to keep going on her way until some words caught her attention.

"Alright, so we all agree Mahiru is a solid 6."

"Yeah, cute face but kinda of an airhead plus she's kind of lacking in the curves."

"I'd give her a 5 myself."

"That's because you don't like brunettes."

Teruhashi drifted back peeking into the room catching a glimpse of several boys in the classroom.

 _"~So they're ranking girls huh?~"_ Teruhashi smiled flipping her hair. _"~Certainly being the perfect girl I am I'd be ranked number 1. A perfect 10 out of 10.~"_

The boys went back and forth talking about various girls in the school. Teruhashi was quickly growing bored and was about to leave when someone finally spoke the words she was waiting for.

"Well, I guess we can all agree on who's the perfect girl in this school." A black haired boy said

"Yeah."

"Teruhashi of course."

"Obviously."

"Totally."

The boys all agreed confirming what Teruhashi knew. She crossed her arms nodding her head with a small satisfied smile.

 _"~Obviously. After all, I am the perfect girl.~"_ Teruhashi thought flipping her hair over her shoulder.

"Yeah, she is perfect, but she's not the girl I'd pick." A guy with brown hair spoke.

"What!?" The other guys shouted

 _"~WHAT!?~"_ Teruhashi thought

"Dude, have you lost your mind? Teruhashi is perfect in every way how could you not want her?!" A guy shouted

"I'm not denying she's perfect but there's a girl in this school whose much hotter and cooler than Teruhashi."

"Who!?"

 _"~YEAH! WHO?!~"_ Teruhashi was now almost pressed against the door of the classroom trying to hear every word.

"Lotus of course."

 _"~Who the heck is that?!~"_

"You know that transfer girl with the pink hair."

"Oh yeah, I know who you're talking about. I've seen her in the male gym class."

"If you think about it Lotus is the perfect girl."

"And why would you say that?"

"She's the cool confident type that takes charge, mistakes don't even phase her. She faces life head-on. Plus she into things like sports and anime."

"Now that you mention it I often see her with Manga."

"And I did hear she's really into sports."

"See what I mean. I myself caught her at an arcade. I also heard she's an amazing cook. Selfless too, there's a story going around that she rescued an animal from a group of thugs."

"Cool!"

"Impressive!"

How that story got around no one knows?

"Think of it this way Teruhashi is an angel or rather like a fine piece of art. She's perfect, elegant, simply amazing to look at. She'd obviously have to be pampered and taken care of."

 _"~Obviously.~"_ Teruhashi agreed

"But Lotus, she's like a wild stallion. Full of power and passion, even if you tame her she's still got that wild spirit that keeps life spicy. She'll go out into the world with her adventurous spirit, she's the kind of girl who's not afraid to get her hands dirty."

"Whoa, dude those analogies were great."

"Thanks, I do have one of the best writing grades in school. But besides that now can you see why Lotus is the best choice?"

"Yeah, when you put it that way she is amazing. Lotus does sound like the best girl-no woman."

"Let's not forget that body, she's definitely got the best bod in school."

All the boys nodded their heads agreeing to that.

 _"~What is going on here? How could they be talking about picking another girl over me when I'm the most perfect girl in the whole school. There's just no way she'd be a better catch than me!~"_

Teruhashi was having an inner freak out the words coming out of the guy's mouth not registering in her mind.

"I bet Lotus would totally be into a guy like me."

"As if."

"What was that?! Girls like Lotus probably like the sporty type someone who can keep up with her!"

"Yeah, right she'd be more into the cool type such as myself. Someone who can keep calm in any situation."

"You're so wrong. She's probably into the strong and silent type."

"No. No. No," A guy with glasses spoke up. "You all have got it wrong. It's clear that Lotus seeks a companion who's on the same intellectual level as her, not some neanderthals who can't hold a stimulating conversation."

As the guys went back and forth over what kind of guy Lotus would be in to, Teruhashi had a plan forming in mind. She had to find out who this Lotus was.

* * *

It wasn't that hard for Teruhashi to locate Lotus, her being the only pink haired girl in school. The girl had been in Teruhashi's class but the blue-haired girl had completely overlooked Lotus's presence. She briefly remembers the girl when she transferred and although Lotus's well-endowed body struck a bit of envy Teruhashi quickly swept that under the rug. Even if Lotus had been a bit more gifted than Teruhashi, there was no way she was perfect like her.

With these thoughts in mind Teruhashi allowed Lotus to fly under the radar, the girl had slowly become popular within the school and Teruhashi didn't even notice. Lotus even sat next to Saiki, Teruhashi really wanted to facepalm at that. How could she have not noticed that Lotus sat next to Saiki? Throughout class, as she observed Lotus, Saiki paid no mind to his seat partner. So maybe that's why Teruhashi didn't notice?

Teruhashi continued her scrutinizing analyzation of Lotus, and she honestly couldn't figure out what that group of boys had been talking about. There was nothing that the pink haired girl really did that stood out to Teruhashi. Especially nothing that would make guys pick her over Teruhashi herself. So why? Why were those guys saying she was the perfect choice?

 _"~This just doesn't make sense. I just don't understand it at all.~"_ Teruhashi thought

Teruhashi was thinking about Lotus, like she was some kind of impossible math problem that needed to be solved.

* * *

At the end of the day, Teruhashi followed Lotus all the way to their shoe lockers, Teruhashi watching the girl silently like a hawk. Even her thoughts were silent as she observed Lotus switching out her shoes. Which is why neither Lotus nor Saiki knew Teruhashi was watching them when the two pinkettes joined up outside the school gates, gearing to walk home together. A normality that was now a part of their daily school routine.

 _"~Impossible! Saiki shows interest in her and not me! Something has to be done! Tomorrow I'll have to show her and everyone that I'm perfect! I'll prove to Saiki that I'm the one he should be walking with!~"_ Teruhashi thought with a determinate declaration.

Finally, overhearing the girls frantic thoughts Lotus sweatdropped.

 _"Oh dear, it's gonna be a long day tomorrow isn't it?"_

 _"Yup."_ Saiki agreed. _"Please, stay away from me tomorrow."_

Lotus gave an integral sigh. _"I understand."_

* * *

The next day of school class started with the students receiving their results from a test they had taken earlier that week. A couple of small cheers and groans went off throughout the room as each student read their results.

"Oh man, this is so bad. Not this is terrible," A girl with short black hair moaned holding her test.

Her paper was full of red marks and a very unpleasant big 35 was circled at the top of the page.

"Oh wow, that's terrible." Lotus giggled standing behind the girl reading her score.

"What!?" The girl screeched going stark white.

 _"~Ha! Obviously, a perfect girl wouldn't say such a comment. In such a situation a perfect girl would have got a perfect score, then she would share that perfect score with those who didn't do so well to make them feel better. That's exactly what a perfect girl like me would do.~"_ Teruhashi thought

Lotus continued to smile patting the other girls head. "Don't worry though everyone makes mistakes. Your Mitsumi right?"

"Yeah," Mitsumi said nodding her head.

 _"~She knows that girls name?~"_

"I saw on the last math test you scored the highest right?" Lotus asked

"That's right." Mitsumi blushed. "I didn't know anyone knew that."

"It was a really difficult test, so I was impressed by the top score you only missed one question. You don't need to feel so bad about not doing so well on this test. As long as you have the drive to do better next time and work hard then this bad grade is not defeat but simply just an obstacle to improve on." Lotus said

"Wow." Mitsumi smiled "I never thought of it that way."

"I saw how upset you looked and came over here to offer you some help. I tutor some other students after classes and I wanted to invite you to join the upcoming English tutoring session," Lotus offered

"Really?!" Mitsumi asked with a bright smile. "Thank you very much!"

Lotus smiled. "No problem happy to help."

Teruhashi gasped. _"~That response! That attitude! It was all perfect!~"_

* * *

Lotus had been making her way to gym class when a commotion out in front of the school caught her attention.

"What's going on here?" Lotus questioned

One of the girls turned to Lotus pointing at a man who was standing at the school entrance. "There's some strange man standing in front of the school."

"He's creepy. He's been staring at the school and this paper in his hands for like 20 minutes." A light brown haired girl stated.

"What if he's here for someone? _***GASP***_ Like some kind of assassin!" A bobbed haired girl gasped.

"He's not a very good one if he stands out in the open like that." Lotus thought

"Or maybe some mobster! He's come to kidnap an innocent student to pay off their parents crumbling debt!" A brown and black haired boy theorized.

 _"And here I thought Kaidou was the only one in this school with an outlandish imagination."_ Lotus thought

Lotus observed the man taking him in. He was on the taller side, with angle features. The top of his hair was brown while the undercut was blonde. He was also dressed in business casual, with a small suitcase sitting by his feet. He didn't look at all creepy in fact he looked confused. He muttered to himself staring at the paper before looking back at the school. As he looked up Lotus could see more of his features, and she could make out he was a foreigner.

 _"European definitely."_ Lotus thought

"Hey what do you kids think you're doing lingering in front of school like that! You all should be heading to class!" The booming voice of Coach Matsuzaki sounded.

As he walked over to the group of students one of them explained the situation, not very well, while pointing at the confused foreigner. Lotus felt bad for the poor foreigner as Coach Matsuzaki ran off yelling at the man. The poor guy was scared as the high school coach yelled at him. He finally spoke back to the yelling coach in his native language, waving his hands looking around desperately for some kind of help.

Lotus sighed and broke away from the students walking over to the man and Coach Matsuzaki.

"Hey, you stay back! Strangers are dangerous!" Coach Matsuzaki warned putting a hand in front of Lotus stopping the girl.

Lotus sidestepped the man walking to the foreigner. "Don't worry Sensei I've got this."

"Mi scusi, signore, per caso vi siete persi?" (1) Lotus asked speaking fluent Italian.

The man relaxed a great deal happy to hear someone speaking his language.

"Sì, sono molto perso." (2) The man confirmed nodding his head.

"Che cosa stai cercando? Forse posso aiutarti," (3) Lotus offered, holding her hand out.

The man passed his map to Lotus pointing to something on it. "Vedi, sto cercando questo ristorante qui, mia sorella vive qui, io avrei chiamato e chiesto, ma questa è una visita a sorpresa." (4)

"Che bello, immagino che ti sia un po 'voltato, ecco il modo migliore per arrivare dove stai andando" (5) Lotus said

She gave the man proper directions before sending him off. He left with a smile and wave thanking Lotus greatly for her help. When the man was out of sight the group of students who were watching the whole thing ran over to Lotus gathering around the girl.

"You handled that so well. So cool!" A girl spoke

"Amazing! You speak another language!" Another girl gushed

"So you speak both Japanese and Italian?" A guy asked

"Yeah but, I actually speak several other languages too," Lotus stated

"Really?!"

"What ones?" Someone asked

"My main languages are Japanese and English. I also speak Italian, German, French, and Icelandic. I also know some Chinese and Celtic."

"Oh, wow Lotus you're so smart!"

"Haha, not really. Anyone can learn a language if they try hard enough. I was just lucky to learn them at such a young age thanks to my parent's jobs." Lotus said

As the other students marveled over Lotus's linguistic skills Teruhashi, who had been watching from a window on the second floor of the school, was once again in a tizzy.

 _"~Oh no! Another perfect girl action. She has to know different languages so her talents can be understood in any land!~"_ Teruhashi thought

* * *

Lotus was walking down the halls of school carrying a box, Teruhashi trailing not far behind her.

 _"~Hmmm? If it were me who had to carry that box any boy would throw themselves at me trying to grab it offering to carry it for me.~"_

This what Teruhashi thought, that is until a guy walked over offering to help Lotus with the box.

Lotus smiled shaking her head. "No that's okay. I was the one who offered to help the teacher. It's a little heavy but nothing I can't handle. You should have seen the teacher though poor guy was trying to carry four of these all at once. Thank you for the offer though."

Teruhashi internally gasped for what felt like the 10th time today. _"~She's showing off her power of being a strong independent woman!~"_

* * *

This continued throughout the day, Lotus acting as normal, and Teruhashi freaking out over it. Teruhashi simply didn't get it. It was like Lotus was imperfect but perfect at the same time.

 _"~Is it possible!?~"_ Teruhashi shook her head. _"~No, I don't even wanna think it! I'm still a perfect girl and number one in school there's no doubt about that….but then why does Saiki hang around her and not me!~"_

Lotus kind of felt bad feeling like she was blowing Teruhashi's world out of the water but it's not like she was doing it on purpose. The blue-haired girl was just an overreacting. Lotus just wished Teruhashi would stop following her around already. Now she knew how Saiki felt, Teruhashi didn't even interact with Lotus one on one and the girl was exhausting.

 _"~No I won't give up!~"_

 _"Give up on what?"_

 _"~A perfect girl never admits defeat!~"_

 _"Defeat to what though?"_

 _"~As they say keep your friends close but your enemies closer. I have to befriend my rival!~"_

 _"Not your rival for anything."_

 _"~I'm sure it won't be hard at all befriending her, I mean who wouldn't want to be friends with a perfect girl. Plus if I become friends with Lotus then that means I'll get closer to Saiki too.~"_

 _"Pretty sure he doesn't want that either."_

 _"~As we spend time as friends I'll outshine her in Saiki's eyes~"_

 _"Are your goals to blind the poor boy? She's not gonna give up, is she? I better escape before she can find me."_

With that Lotus teleported away leaving the school grounds. Teruhashi wouldn't be finding her today.

* * *

 _"You look worn out."_

 _"You have no idea. Saiki, I'm sorry for any jokes I made towards you and Teruhashi, that girl is tiring."_

 _"What happened?"_

Lotus explained what had happened the previous day with Teruhashi following her then coming to the conclusion that Teruhashi had to befriend her.

Saiki stared at Lotus not thinking a thing.

 _"You're laughing at me aren't you?"_

 _"Can you hear laughter?"_

 _"No, but I can see it in your eyes."_

 _"No, you can't. But I wish you luck in your Teruhashi endeavors."_

 _"Whoa whoa, hold it there pink boy. You mean our endeavors. This is partly your fault you know."_

 _"And how is that exactly?"_

 _"Because Teruhashi is mainly concerned about my presence because I hang around you."_

 _"And who's fault is that now? I distinctly remember a pink haired girl declaring that we'd be friends no matter what."_

 _"Yeah well but uhm….curse you and your logic Saiki!"_

 _"Calm down you idiot we got to get to class."_

 _"Huh? Wait we can still go to class together? What about the stalker Teruhashi?"_

 _"She's going to bother you no matter what. Changing what we do now won't affect that."_

Lotus smiled holding herself back from hugging Saiki. She knew what he really meant. Her growing friendship with him was more important than him avoiding Teruhashi.

 _"Besides the more, she focuses on you the less she focus on me."_

Lotus chuckled sweatdropping.

 _"I'm just gonna chalk that up to Saiki's witty humor and believe he values my friendship."_

 **END**

 **Translations**

(1) - "Excuse me sir are you by chance lost?"

(2) - "Yes, I'm very lost."

(3) - "What are you looking for? Maybe I can help."

(4) - "You see I'm looking for this restaurant here. My sister lives here, I would have called and asked her but this is a surprise visit."

(5) - "How nice. I guess you got a bit turned around. Here's the best way to get where you're going."


	23. The Little Shop of Ramen

**Guest (Hi)** \- Of course I'm finishing it. In fact here's the next chapter. I just have an irregular updating schedule.

 **JadeNoRyuu -** Yes she was able to pick up so many languages because of her ability, it's also thanks to her parents, but that will be later explained as the story progresses. Thank you for the translation helps, when I have the time I'll go back and fix them. Honestly, I speak no Italian and just put everything in a translator.

 **RemaGeek -** Not sure yet. If I can find a way to integrate Lotus then yes I will.

 **Snickering Fox -** There names go with a theme that will be shown later in the story when their parents make an appearance. I also understand what you mean but I've got a chapter going up that makes her not seem that way. Judging mother in law huh...wait til Lotus's mother comes in.

 **MrsDragneel1203 -** Thank's for the message. I don't always have the ability to reply to those.

* * *

 _This is Lotus_

 _This is Saiki_

 ** _This is Saiki and Lotus_**

 _~This is the thoughts of others~_

* * *

 **The Little Shop of Ramen! - You Mean Little Shop of Horror, Right?**

Walking down the street was a group of teens. Three boys one with pink hair, one with white, and lastly one with an odd sidecut with a yellow tuft on top.

"Hey, are we there yet?" Kaidou complained

 _"Somehow I'm stuck with these guys again."_

"Oh!" A female voice gasped, "Fancy meeting you here Saiki." The ever-glowing Teruhashi spoke.

"Oh wow! Teruhashi!" Nendou and Kaidou gasped with pink cheeks.

"What are you doing today?" Teruhashi asked clearly addressing Saiki.

Even though her attention was solely focused on Saiki, Kaidou was the one who answered.

"Well Nendou said he knew of a good Ramen place around here, so he's taking us there now!" Kaidou quickly spoke in a frantic manner.

"Yeah we're gonna pig ou-I mean eat like gentlemen," Nendou said

"Oh Ramen sounds good. Do you guys mind if I invite myself to tag along with you?" Teruhashi asked giving some not so subtle glances to Saiki.

Saiki in return does his best to avoid eye contact.

"Oops," Teruhashi gave a wink. "I hope I'm not being too overly pushy."

The wink has no effect on Saiki but Nendou and Kaidou on the other hand. The two boys stuttered answering Teruhashi that it was fine for her to come.

 _"Seriously,"_ Saiki said

* * *

As the new group of four walked, onlookers all started chatting about Teruhashi.

 _"I let my guard down. Teruhashi is my most formidable opponent. Normally Nendou just stands around with that stupid look on his face."_

Nendou now had this strange, "I'm charming and handsome," look on his face. It was weird and a bit disturbing.

 _"Who even are you?"_ Saiki questioned, _"And Kaidou's even worse."_

"Hey, Kaidou?" Teruhashi asked

"Yes!?" Kaidou said

"Why do you always have those bandages on your hand?" Teruhashi asked

"Its to keep my powers under wraps," Kaidou said

"Uh, powers?" Teruhashi stated confused. "I'm sorry I don't understand what powers your referring to."

Kaidou started unwrapping his bandages giving Teruhashi a simple explanation.

 _"He's suddenly healed of his hero complex. Truly creepy but this is the reaction Teruhashi always elicits from people."_

 _"~They're so excited. But it's only natural given that they're about to have a meal with me the cutest girl in the world. Then why is he acting so blase about it! Saiki, why don't you say oh wow! When you see me your reaction should always be oh wow!~"_ Teruhashi thought

 _"What does that even mean?"_

 _"~There's no way my charms wouldn't work on a dork like him. He's always got that annoying far_ out look _on his face and probably has a scary dark side, and an intriguing air of mystery with a piercing gaze.~"_ Teruhashi thought

"Hey is there something wrong?" Nendou asked as Teruhashi got this strange gaze on her face.

Teruhashi jumped slightly. _"~Oh no my face gave me away. That's it.~"_ Now Teruhashi's faced changed showing determination. _"~I'm making it my mission to turn up the charm to get him to say oh wow!~"_

 _"Great I'm drawing her attention. I don't want her following me around but I don't want to give in and say oh wow either. Maybe-?"_

"Yo Saiki!" A voice called out grabbing everyone's attention.

Nendou, Kaidou, even Teruhashi were thrown into a stunned silence as the owner of the voice approached Saiki.

It was Lotus but unlike her fellow classmates, she wasn't dressed in her school uniform.

"Fancy catching you in this area. I thought you'd be home by now, what brings you around here?" Lotus asked

 _"I was forced against my will and why are you dressed like that?"_ Saiki asked

"Oh, this?" Lotus gestured to her outfit. "Ethan was working on some outfits for a photo shoot around here, but one of the models who was supposed to come out got delayed so the director asked me to step in. Nothing big just more like an extra background person to fill in empty space."

Lotus was wearing a white corset-like top with ruffled straps, the top was cropped showing off her midriff. The top was paired with some maroon pants that tucked into a pair of white boots that had a slight heel. Her hair had been curled so it fell in perfect waves around her shoulders.

Various chatter could be heard going off around as passerbyers cast their gazes on Lotus, someone even pulled out their phone to snap a picture.

 _"You're drawing in way too much attention,"_ Saiki said

Lotus chuckled rubbing the back of her head with a sweatdrop.

"Whoa!"

That's when Lotus finally noticed who else was standing in the vicinity.

"Oh hey guys," Lotus chuckled waving at starstruck Kaidou and Nendou, along with a stunned Teruhashi.

 _"Crap! I didn't even see them there!"_

"Warrior Queen Lotus you look, you look-!" Nendou wasn't able to get the words out as he stuttered taking in Lotus's outfit.

"Amazing girl buddy!" Nendou gave Lotus two thumbs his face going back to normal. "I never knew you were a model, you're perfect for it."

Lotus gave a small laugh waving off the comment. "I don't really model, I just help out Ethan whenever his clients are in need of help." Lotus paused looking at Kaidou. "Hey, Kaidou your bandages are loose. Something happen? Did you get into a fight? I bet they were nothing against the Jet Black Wings huh?" Lotus smiled giving a thumbs up while winking.

Kaidou's eyes went wide as his cheeks got redder. "My bandages are only loose because of intense training."

"Well then keep up the good work," Lotus said

"R-Right nothing will defeat the Jet Black Wings!" Kaidou declared

 _"Those two are back to normal."_

Saiki quickly figured out that while both Teruhashi and Lotus gain large amounts of attention, the way the two interacted with others garners different reactions. Those who interacted with Teruhashi often changed their behaviors trying to be perfect and charming to match with the perfect girl. Lotus, on the other hand, has the opposite effect that reassures people that they can act themselves that, that being perfect around Lotus meant being yourself. While Teruhashi seems out of reach, Lotus is right there holding out a helping hand. Both girls were perfect but in very different ways.

While Lotus conversed with Kaidou and Nendou, Teruhashi stood off to the side having an inner mini breakdown.

 _"~How is this happening?! She looks so stunning! She models, all perfect girls model! And Saiki was actually looking at her! Does he find her stunning too! ***GASP*** I bet he was thinking oh wow! When he saw her too!~"_ Teruhashi went on an inner rant brought on by the sudden arrival of Lotus.

 _"She's having an internal spaz attack because I showed up. I really don't wanna deal with that whole 'Rival' thing right now. Maybe if I sneak away quietly I can get away-"_

Before Lotus could make her escape Nendou put a hand on her shoulder stopping her.

 _"Drat, thwarted by Nendou."_

 _"Now you know how I feel."_

"Hey, Lotus buddy wanna come get some Ramen with us?" Nendou asked

 _"Ramen?"_ Lotus thought

Lotus looked pleadingly to Saiki hoping he'd give her an escape but he looked away deflating her hopes. There was no way he was going to suffer around Teruhashi alone.

* * *

"Oh, we've arrived. Heres the Ramen shop," Nendou stated addressing Teruhashi. He was once again making that ridiculous face and the tone of his voice became huskier.

 _"What's up with Nendou's face and why is he talking like that? Even his manner of speech is off."_ Lotus thought

 _"Ignore the idiot,"_ Saiki stated

"Great, sightseeing makes me hungry," Teruhashi said

Nendou pointed out the restaurant showing a dingy little shop, that looked like it should be abandoned. The tattered sign posted out front along with the crumbling structure didn't help with the shop's image.

Teruhashi's face went blank, her eyes dead. "Oh wow…." She stated voicing everyone's thoughts.

 _"~We aren't actually going in there are we!?~"_ Teruhashi internally cried

"I heard their Ramen's crazy," Nendou said

 _"~No! No way! I can't!~"_ Teruhashi screamed within her mind.

"My friend's cousin's ex-dog walker says it's good so it's gotta be good," Nendou explained

 _"~What is this like an urban legend or something?! I can't go in there! This is me we're talking about! I mean all the places they take me, it's this dump!~"_

 _"That's the plan. She'll split before we go in. Because of that, she'll be less likable in their eyes, and they'll stop saying 'oh wow'. And once her pride is wounded Teruhashi will leave me alone."_

 _"Saiki, always four steps ahead of everyone around him."_

 _"~I'll tell them something urgent just came up~"_ Teruhashi quickly thought coming up with a plan to get out of this mess.

"Something urgent just-"

"Are you out of your mind man!" Kaidou shouted interrupting Teruhashi. "She's got class! There's no way she'd eat at a place like this! You don't really wanna eat in this rundown rathole, do you Teruhashi?"

Teruhashi's eyes go dead once again as her plan was stopped cold in its tracks.

"I'm okay with this place." She stated in a monotone fashion.

 _"Well ordinarily Saiki would be a few steps ahead of a normal person but this group is anything but that,"_ Lotus thought

Teruhashi cursed her bad luck. _"~I can't go home now. They'll think I'm stuck up and high maintenance.~"_

 _"Kaidou why do you have to push her? But her commitment to playing the perfect woman is impressive."_

 _"You can say that again."_ Lotus agreed

* * *

The small group entered the Ramen shop and it looked just as bad on the inside as it did on the outside. Lotus wouldn't have been surprised if Teruhashi fainted on the spot. The Pink haired girl herself wasn't feeling to keen on this place either, her optimism for this restaurant was slowly going down.

 _"~Of course there was no way that this place could have possibly been clean. What was I thinking.~"_ Teruhashi thought

"This is place is disgusting. You don't have to feel pressured to go in!" Kaidou said to Teruhashi.

"I'm fine!"

 _"~I'm not!~"_ Her thoughts the opposite of what she was speaking.

 _"~She's so cool she doesn't even look bothered. She's the perfect woman~"_ Kaidou thought

 _"~I'm the perfect woman. You're totally right!~"_ Teruhashi thought

 _"Okay, seriously though can she read minds. Her thoughts are so accurate it's scary."_ Lotus thought

 _"~I've spent 16 years carefully crafting the image of a perfect appearance and personality. I can't burst that bubble in front of him.~"_

 _"Sounds like a lot of hard work, Teruhashi's constantly doing. It's much easier to just be yourself. Putting on a masquerade all the time sounds tiring, and how can one truly live if they gotta constantly change what they do in order to match the expectations set by others. I'd rather have 10 people like me for who I really_ am then have _thousands worship a fake me."_ Lotus thought

Saiki cast a glance at Lotus her words sinking in.

 **Saiki's likeability meter for Lotus has just gone up.**

 _"I wonder…"_ Lotus looked at Teruhashi. _"If she really enjoys putting on the persona of the perfect girl or if she just really wants friends who know the real her?"_

 _"~Besides I have to keep alive the dreams of the 7 billion people on earth!~"_

 _"On second thought maybe she does enjoy it."_ Lotus thought

"Well there's no use standing around let's going," Lotus declared

"Whoa, Queen Lotus you actually wanna go in there too!?" Kaidou exclaimed

"The place is pretty rough on the outside but maybe it's like one of those hole in the wall places, that sells incredible food but isn't that well-known. I'm willing to try something at least once. Besides, if I get sick I've got great health insurance!" Lotus finished with a light-hearted joke.

Nendou and Kaidou laughed at the last part of Lotus's statement.

 _"~Warrior Queen Lotus is so awesome and brave! I bet there's nothing she fears. She's a strong woman!~"_ Kaidou thought

"Glad you wanna try it girl buddy!" Nendou said

 _"~This Is just great! Not only do I have to go into this place, but I'm also here with my greatest rival. Who just gave a perfect answer and made a cute joke! Look at how those two are fawning over her!~"_

Lotus sweatdropped at Teruhashi's thoughts. _"It's not like I made that joke to get attention. I was just trying to ease everyone's nerves not compete with you."_

 _"Well at least with Lotus here Teruhashi's attention isn't solely directed towards me."_

 _"You're so mean Saiki using me as a Teruhashi shield."_

 _"But you make such a good shield."_

Lotus's thoughts paused and she blinked. _"Did...Did Saiki just make a joke?...And a funny one at that."_

* * *

The easily five got a table taking their seats, which wasn't at all difficult since no one was in the restaurant.

"Yo mister manager five Ramen please!" Nendou called out raising a hand.

The manager stepped out from behind the counter, looking just as disheveled as the restaurant. The last time he showered was probably the last time he moped the restaurant's floor, and judging by the layer of dirt amongst other nasty things that littered the ground, that hasn't happened in quite some time.

"Five Ramen coming up."

 _"~Oh wow….~"_ Teruhashi thought looking at the man. _"~That slob is the manager here. That disgusting monster is going to touch every tray I touch! He's gonna prepare our food!? No, it can't be, I bet he's just giving our orders to the first class chef in the kitchen.~"_ She thought trying to reassure herself.

 ** _"Quit dreaming."_**

"Here you go." The manager stated walking up with five bowls on a tray.

 _"That was far too quick."_ Lotus thought

"Yeah noodle time!" Nendou cheered

"Oh wow…." Was the collective thoughts of everyone as the bowls were placed in front of them.

The food looked nowhere near edible and gave off this pungent stench.

 _"I was severely wrong about the hole in the wall place with great food."_

 _"Just what you'd expect from a place like this. There goes my plan to tank Teruhashi's. She can't eat this no one can."_

Saiki was proven wrong when a slurping noise was heard. Everyone heads snapped at Teruhashi who was slurping noodles, her face getting sicker with each bite.

 _"~I have to eat it. They can't call me the perfect woman if I deny the food that's been served to me. I can't let down 7 billion people!~"_

"I don't think you should be eating that!" Kaidou said

Lotus grabbed Teruhashi's hands forcing the girl to stop eating. "You're gonna get sick! You face is already turning pale!"

"Hey pops! Even pigs wouldn't eat this slop!" Nendou shouted

 _"~Teruhashi eats stuff like this?~"_ Kaidou thought

 **Both Nendou's and Kaidou's likability for Teruhashi went down a little.**

* * *

As the five walked home Teruhashi stood in between Kaidou and Nendou, neither of the boys tripping over themselves for the girl like they were doing before. Lotus was walking a few steps ahead with Saiki.

 _"Perfect woman huh? You know if she'll go that far to play the perfect woman maybe she actually is perfect."_

Lotus spotted Saiki's likability meter for Teruhashi and saw it go up.

 _"Man that thing was pretty low. I wonder what my likability meter for Saiki looks like?"_ Lotus thought

Teruhashi gave a small burp. _"~I feel sick!~"_

Lotus glanced over her shoulder just in time to see Teruhashi trip falling forward. With her quick reflexes, Lotus turned throwing her arms out catching Teruhashi before she could hit the ground. She adjusted the blue haired girl in her arms.

"She passed out," Lotus stated

"Whoa Queen Lotus, you moved so quick!" Kaidou said

"She's gonna need some rest. Up you go!" Lotus adjusted Teruhashi so she was now on her back. "I'll take her home. If she's really bad I'm sure her parents can take her to the doctor. I'll see you guys later."

With a sickly passed out Teruhashi on her back Lotus left.

"So cool!" Kaidou said

 _"Huh? Even though she's not that fond of Teruhashi, she still offered to take her home and make sure she was alright. Lotus is naturally a good helpful person."_

 **Saiki's likability for Lotus has gone up.**

* * *

 _"Okay, from the address on Teruhashi's school bag this should be her home."_

Lotus stared up at a large house before ringing the doorbell.

"Coming!" A female voice sang out.

The door swung open revealing-

"Teruhashi!" Lotus exclaimed

"Huh?" The Teruhashi in front of her said confused

 _"Wait a moment…"_ Lotus looked to the Teruhashi in front of her than the one of her back. Staring a bit longer she noted that the Teruhashi in front of her was slightly older and her body was more matured.

 _"This must be Teruhashi's mother….or her older sister. I see where she gets her looks from."_

"My apologies for the outburst. I was just taken back. I thought you were this Teruhashi here," Lotus gestured to Teruhashi passed out on her back.

The woman chuckled putting a hand on her cheek. "Oh my, being confused for Kokomi how nice. I'm glad my perfect looks were passed down to her." She stated with a hint of playfulness in her tone.

"Who's there dear?" A male voice called out.

A man stepped from around the corner walking over to Teruhashi's mother. Lotus stared at the man scrunching her brows.

 _"This man…."_

When he finally noticed the string he chuckled. "Something wrong?" The man posed putting a hand on his chin. "I know my face is quite handsome, but I am a married man!" Teruhashi's father jokes

"Sorry, you just look like someone I've seen before," Lotus said

Mr. Teruhashi laughed as if he knew a joke that Lotus didn't. "Its funny you'd say that."

 _"Okay, that response was a little odd."_

"Well sorry for the disruption but I bought Teruhashi home," Lotus said

"What happened to her?" Mr. Teruhashi asked concerned

"She had something to eat that didn't really agree with her. Hopefully, she won't need a trip to the doctors, but she'll definitely need some bed rest along with some medicine." Lotus stated

"How sweet carrying our little Kokomi home. You must be a good friend," Mrs. Teruhashi said

"And quite strong too. There aren't any dining establishments close to here, you must have carried Kokomi far. Here I'll take her." Mr. Teruhashi lifted his daughter off of Lotus's back holding the girl in his arms.

"Would you like to come in? I could make you some tea as thanks," Mrs. Teruhashi said

"Thank you for the offer but I have to be getting home. Tell Teruhashi I hope she gets better." Lotus gave a small bow which the parents return. She gives one last wave before leaving.

"I'll get her to bed." Mr. Teruhashi said

"I'll go grab a bucket just in case she gets sick." Mrs. Teruhashi said

* * *

"What...huh?" Teruhashi blinked as her eyes opened. "I'm...in my room?"

"Well hello, sleepy head."

"Mother?" Teruhashi questioned, "What happened?"

"You passed out from eating something bad. A friend brought you home." Mrs. Teruhashi said

"A friend?" Teruhashi asked

Mrs. Teruhashi nodded her head. "Yes, quite nice and that pink hair was quite eye-catching."

 _"~Pink hair! Does that mean….Saiki carried me home! He must be far too embarrassed to show any reaction to my perfectness while I'm conscious but while I fell ill he swept in like-!~"_ Teruhashi thought

"Such a strong young girl too, I can't believe how far she carried you." Mrs. Teruhashi said

 _"~She?!~"_

"Did you just say she?" Teruhashi asked

"That's right a tall girl with pink hair carried you home." Mrs. Teruhashi said

Teruhashi gasped her image of Saiki taking her home instantly shattering.

 _"~My rival she carried me home?~"_

"I didn't the girls name, but she seemed concerned about your well being. She said she hoped you got well soon." Mrs. Teruhashi said

"Really?" Teruhashi said

 _"~Ah! What a perfectly perfect thing to do! You may have won today my rival but I won't be beat just yet!~"_ Teruhashi declared

* * *

"Hello, I'm home!"

"Makoto welcome home!" Mr. Teruhashi spoke as his eldest entered the room.

"Where's Kokomi and Mother?" Makoto asked

"Your mother is up in Kokomi's room. The poor girl is sick most likely food poisoning," Mr. Teruhashi said

"Food poisoning?!" Makoto exclaimed

He was about to sprint out the room upstairs until his father spoke again.

"One of Kokomi's friends brought her home. Carried her all the way." Mr. Teruhashi said

"Carried her?" Makoto questioned the air around him getting darker.

 _"~It better not have been some filthy trash of a boy. That's the only way filth could even get close to Kokomi,~"_ Makoto thought

"Strong girl. I think Kokomi said her name was Lotus," Mr. Teruhashi said

Makoto froze his eyes going wide. He quickly digs into the pocket of the jacket he was wearing pulling a pink handkerchief. The name embroidered on it was Lotus.

"Dad did this girl have pink hair?" Makoto asked frantically

"Yeah, that's right. How'd you know?" Mr. Teruhashi asked

Makoto didn't answer but ended up sprinting back out the house leaving a confused father behind.

Meanwhile, upstairs Teruhashi and her mother watched as Makoto ran up and down the streets shouting like a madman.

"What's gotten into him?" Mrs. Teruhashi pondered

 _"~My brother is such a weirdo~"_


	24. The Fortune Teller

**Guest -** When I get to Halloween her costume will definitely relate to her love for Manga.

 **Guest -** Yeah, I had a feeling they were wrong. I speak no Italian. Luckily I do have an Italian reader who fixed it for me. So that chapter will be fixed later.

 **Guest -** Once I get more inspiration I'll update that story.

 **hellspam -** We will see. Just wait till the movie theater episode.

 **suntan140 -** I cannot reveal that yet, but it'll be shown in a few more chapters.

* * *

 _This is Lotus_

 _This is Saiki_

 ** _This is Saiki and Lotus_**

 _~This is the thoughts of others~_

* * *

 **The Fortune Teller - Scratch That, Its a Misfortune Teller!**

Lotus was in class once again her nose dug in a manga, one that she already re-read several times before. She hadn't been able to purchase any of the newest issues yet.

Despite not having her new Jump Lotus was in a rather sprightly mood today. Yesterday she had witnessed a very selfless act committed by one Saiki Kusuo. He gave up his coffee Jelly, something he truly loves, in order to help a little boy get back his autographed baseball.

After Saiki left she overheard the little boy talking to his older sister wanting to thank the pink haired teen for getting back his rare baseball. That's where Lotus stepped in. She introduced herself as a friend of Saiki's and suggested buying him some coffee jelly as thanks. The sibling's appreciated Lotus's help and got the Jello delivering it to Saiki's home.

Lotus smiled thinking about the happy look Saiki must have had when he received the gift. Now could she have told Saiki that it was her idea for the little boy to gift him with the special confectionary.

Yes, she could. But she'd rather keep it her little secret.

With a smile, Lotus tried to maintain her focus on her manga but it was kinda hard with all the chatter going on around the class, plus the added on chatter from people's thoughts.

"What! You went to the house of fortune telling Chiyo?" A girl asked

Chiyo smiled nodding her head. "It was amazing. They told me I'd finally be able to break up with Takeru and find a new boyfriend."

At that moment Takeru and his friend were standing outside the class having a conversation in the hallway.

"Takeru you've been to the house of fortune telling?"

"Yeah, it was great. They said me and Chiyo would get back together and find happiness," Takeru said

Lotus sweatdropped hearing that.

 _"Well, both fortunes can't be true."_

Kaidou walked up standing before Lotus and Saiki. "How naive fortune telling is a ridiculous fantasy concocted by false prophets trying to prey on the weak-minded."

 _"Wow, for once you and I finally agree on something."_

 _"Is it just me, or does Kaidou sound really smart when he talks like this?"_

"Anyway forget about that. There's more important things happening come with me after school." Kaidou said

 _"The way you said that can be taken the wrong way."_

"Haven't you noticed there's a dark aura surrounding me and dark reunion is behind it…."

Kaidou continued to talk, but he was tuned out as Saiki's thoughts ran through Lotus's head.

 _"That's just a ridiculous fantasy you concocted. Don't you have anyone else you can ask to go with you?"_

A dejected Kaidou walked away but the empty space he left was quickly filled with Nendou sliding in.

"Buddies! Did you hear about the new telling of fortunes hut?" Nendou asked

"Wrong name Nendou," Lotus said

 _"It's called the house of fortune telling and I'm sick of hearing about it."_

"I heard they sell Jump before street date at the shop next to it," Nendou said

 _"They shouldn't do that."_

Hearing the words Jump Lotus's head snapped around quickly. "Did someone say Jump?"

* * *

At the chance of getting the newest print of the newest Jump Lotus was eager to make her way to the shop in hopes to snag a copy.

"Thanks for walking with me to the bookstore Saiki," Lotus smiled

 _"I'm not we just simply happen to be going in the same direction,"_ Was Saiki's response

Lotus giggled knowing his words were not true, yes walking this way would get him home, but it as a longer route. So Saiki was indeed going out of his way to walk with Lotus.

 _"Actions speak louder than words. I think that's one of the things I find so interesting about Saiki. His actions always speak for his kind heart."_

On the way there the two teens spotted a long line forming outside a shop.

 _"So that's the House of Fortune Telling?"_

A girl came running out the doors running over to her friends gushing about how her fortune said some boys' destiny would be entwined with hers.

 _"Well, as long as it makes them happy I guess that's all that matters."_

Saiki turned to Lotus who had a sour look on her face.

 _"That's a new look."_

"I can't stand con-artists like this. Playing with people's feelings to get a quick buck. They don't know the real damage that they can inflict on a person's life." Lotus clicked her tongue. "Makes me sick."

 _"You sure feel strongly about this."_

"Can you read the future?" Lotus asked Saiki.

"No," Saiki answered

"Then neither can that so-called fortune-teller. Until you can do it or I see definitive proof I refuse to acknowledge a person like that."

 _"Well, now she's in a bad mood."_ Saiki sighed. _"Let's go get you your manga."_

"Yes, manga will make me feel better!" Lotus stated a bit too loud.

As the two were about to walk away Saiki spotted a familiar figure.

 _"Kaidou? What's he doing here?"_

 _"~I don't care about fortune telling but if this person really is a prophet it's possible that Dark Reunion would target them.~"_ Kaidou thought

 _"I don't care about his reasoning but this fortune telling seems suspicious."_

 _"Of course it is. Clearly, the only person in that house of fortune is a lying snake con artist." Lotus growled out._

Another girl came running out of the shop squealing about a boy was going to be hers, the very same boy the previous girl had been foretold would be hers.

 _"That guy's got two girlfriends now."_

"Saiki! Kaidou's going in, we have to save him from that liar's money hungry paws." Lotus said

 _"Wow, you really feel strongly about this. Well were here already might as well check it out. Hold onto my shoulder."_

Lotus grabbed Saiki's shoulder, and he started to go invisible. The power spread to Lotus and within seconds the teens were gone.

* * *

Lotus and Saiki, both invisible, followed Kaidou inside the shop.

A woman sat in the in middle of the room at a table, dressed in what one would imagine a stereotypical gypsy would be wearing. In the center of the table was a crystal ball. The lights had been dimmed with a few lit candles hung around the room.

"Welcome to the House of Fortune Telling." The woman greeted

Kaidou took off his disguise. "Whoa!"

 ** _"This place is so cliche."_**

"I'm Mikkio Clairvoyance. Nice to meet you."

 _"Even her name is sketchy."_

 _"I know she's not even trying with that name."_

"On what matter would you like advice for today?" Mikkio asked Kaidou.

Kaidou sat down across from Mikkio. _"~Seems kind of shady maybe she is a normal person after all.~"_ He thought

 _"Looks like he's not impressed either."_

 _"Is good to know that someone smells the fishiness of this."_

"Oh my," Mikkio gasped. "I'm getting a very special aura from you."

Kaidou gasped jumping up.

"Your no ordinary boy are you? I'm sensing you have special powers." Mikkio said

 _"~This woman is the real deal!~"_ Kaidou thought

 _"He's hopeless."_

 _"And since he acted like that she sees right through him."_

As Kaidou all but gushed Mikkio smirked a sly smile resting on her painted lips.

 _"~So he's got a hero complex. This will be almost too easy.~"_ Mikkio thought

Lotus felt her brow twitch as she clenched a fist at the so-called Fortune Teller's words.

"I'm picking up that there's something troubling you, that right?" Mikkio asked

"How did you know?!"

 _"People without troubles don't come to places like this."_

"Ha, let me tell you what it is. A romantic delima...is, not the problem. Concerns about school or your future is not troubling you….but relationships with your friends-"

Kaidou shouted shocked.

"Yes, I'm getting a strong sense that your distress has something to do with friendship," Mikkio stated

"How did you know!"

 _"You make it too easy."_

 _"This is place is so fake it's painful."_

"Yeah, your right. That is the absolute source of my distress. You see I secretly super powerful…"

 _"~What is this idiot blabbering about?~"_ Mikkio thought

 _"I ask myself that every day?"_

"I'm used to fighting evil, but fighting the solitude. It's the hardest part, I have no friends. I mean comrades I can rely on but…."

 _"~He keeps spouting nonsense but the gist is?~"_ Mikkio thought

 _"His problem is he can't make friends."_

"You're searching for someone to understand you. Am I right? But that's the wrong approach."

 _"Huh? She makes some valid points. Guess I misjudged her prematurely."_

 _"Just wait for it."_

"This will help too." Mikkio pulled out a tasteless silver necklace.

 _"What is she giving him?"_

 _"Just listen the true nature of a woman such as herself is about to be revealed."_

"This enchanted necklace will change your life," Mikkio said

"No way," Kaidou gasped looking over the necklace.

"If you wear that you'll be able to make friend with over a hundred people. I can sell it to you for 30 thousand yen." Mikkio said

"What it cost how much!" Kaidou shouted

 _"Seriously? What a scam. Why do I even bother?"_

"Will this make Saiki friend too?" Kaidou asked

His words made the two pink heads freeze.

"As long s you wear this necklace this Saiki fellow will greet you every morning with a hey pal!" Mikkio said

 _"Huh? What Saiki are you talking about it?"_

"I'll take it!" Kaidou said

 _"Kaidou...I never knew he felt this way….and this hag here is just playing with him to get all his money when he has a serious problem!"_

Lotus raised her fist hovering it over the Fortune Teller's head like she was going to hit the woman, but Saiki stopped her.

 _"Come on Saiki! Just one good hit to teach her a lesson!"_

 _"In your angered state plus your psychic powers, one hit could send her to the core of the earth."_

* * *

Kaidou happily left the shop the expensive worthless necklace in his hand.

Saiki and Lotus stood outside the doors to the room Mikkio waited in.

"Saiki, let's burn this place to the ground," Lotus stated with a serious look.

 _"That would be a crime. I have a better idea."_

Lotus listened to Saiki's thoughts a smirk appearing on her lips at his plans.

* * *

"What a moron going on about a shadowy organization. Next in line!" Mikkio said

The doors opened, Saiki walked in alone.

Lotus stood outside the doors to the room listening intently. About a minute passed before Mikkio's scream rang through the room. The Fortune Teller ran, no full on sprinted out of the room and out of the building.

"Whoa…." Lotus looked at Saiki. "What did you do to her?"

* * *

Kaidou was holding the new necklace up admiring it.

"Kaidou!"

Kaidou turned around only to be greeted by a panicking Mikkio holding his money.

"Take all your money back! I don't want it!" She shoved the money into Kaidou's hands. "Everything you said was real!" Mikkio turned and took off running.

"What about the necklace?" Kaidou called out.

"Keep it! I bought it at a street fair for five hundred yen!" Mikkio called back.

"What!?" Kaidou shouted

Around the corner stood Saiki and Lotus.

 _"I don't want him thinking that necklace has the power to make me his friend. He should rely on his own to make friends and not rely on trinkets like that."_

Lotus snickered knowing Saiki did the deed because he had a good heart.

Saiki turned to leave only to walk into the Nendou.

"Oh hey, buddies!" Nendou looked back at Kaidou. "And runt too!"

Kaidou gazed amazed staring down at the necklace in his hand. "It worked. This is great."

"Huh?" Nendou said confused

 _"Another plan ruined because you showed up."_

Lotus stepped out from behind the corner she was hiding behind approaching Kaidou.

"Hey, Kaidou!" Lotus greeted walking up to the boy.

"W-Warrior Queen Lotus! You here too?" Kaidou asked

"I got to thinking about that Fortune Telling and what you said earlier got me thinking," Lotus said

"What I said earlier?" Kaidou asked

"Yeah, you said Dark Reunion was up to something right. So obviously if this Fortune Teller was real Dark Reunion would target them and if that were the case then you'd surely come to the rescue to take down Dark Reunion," Lotus said

"Y-Yeah that's right!" Kaidou said

"I'm sure the Jet Black Wings doesn't need help but I came to check and make sure my friend was okay. Even heroes need support from time to time," Lotus said

Kaidou appeared bashful by Lotus's words. "You came to check up on me?"

"Yeah, we're friends right?" Lotus said

Kaidou was stunned staying silent for a minute or two. "Friends? That's right friends."

Saiki observed on the sidelines as Kaidou talked about how the Jet Black Wings needing a sidekick and the Warrior Queen would make a perfect one. Lotus just smiled and chuckled at Kaidou's words enjoying the boys talk.

Saiki realized Lotus was the kind of person who would do anything for those she cared for. It was lucky for that Fortune Teller that he was with her today, or knows what Lotus might have done to that woman.

* * *

Lotus spent a great deal of time talking with Kaidou, not that she minded though, she was glad she was able to reassure the boy that they were indeed friends. She made sure to exchange numbers with the boy to solidify their "newly" established friendship.

Her talk with Kaidou lasted even longer when Nendou decided to join in on the conversation too. The whole time though Saiki, even though he had many chances to leave, stuck around, and that's what made Lotus the happiest that afternoon.

Saiki and Lotus were walking home together. Since she spent so much time talking with Kaidou and Nendou she forgot to pick up that manga she wanted, by the time she realized it the shop was closed. The boys, Nendou and Kaidou, both apologized for holding Lotus up from her goal. Lotus just waved it off with her award-winning smile.

"It's alright guys. At least I had fun talking with you. I can always get some manga. But the precious moments I spend with my friends are irreplaceable." Lotus had said

Both Nendou and Kaidou blushed at those words and smile. Was it possible to feel happy but guilty at the same time?

Anyway since she wasn't getting that manga today Lotus walked home with Saiki. During their walk, Saiki questioned what had Lotus so upset about that fake Fortune Telling.

"It's not the fake fortune teller that's really got me angry but what she stood for," Lotus stated

 _"Stood for?"_

"Preying on the fears and insecurities of others. Giving people false hopes. It's what I hate the most. It may be different if that fortune-teller was simply charging people a small fee to make them feel better but as you saw she nearly robbed Kaidou of all his money. Everyone has fears and worries, something that scares them and to exploit that to make money is disgraceful. At first, it may seem harmless but if you go deeper into it such things can cause great harm. Woman getting botched surgery so that they'll feel beautiful, people spending hundreds upon thousands of dollars on schemes like fad diets and pyramid schemes. False hopes and false promises don't make the world better. That's what I mean," Lotus explained

 _"I see…."_

Saiki understood what Lotus meant, especially after what happened to Kaidou.

 **Saiki's likeability for Lotus got higher!**

Lotus giggled lightening the tense situation. "Sorry for being so serious but that's just how I feel."

Saiki stared at Lotus making her nervous as the boy didn't say, or rather, think anything.

* * *

The next day at school Lotus got a rather pleasant surprise when she opened her shoe locker. Inside was the manga she was going to purchase yesterday. Lotus smiled happily pulling the book out.

 _"Awesome! I can't believe someone got this for me! Could it have been Nendou or Kaidou? Did they feel bad that I couldn't get this yesterday? I wasn't trying to guilt trip them or anything. Could it have been..."_ Lotus giggled thinking it could have been Saiki, but he didn't really seem like the type to give out secret gifts. Lotus shook off the thought and smiled hugging the manga closer to her. "Either way I'm happy!"

Saiki peeked around the corner of the lockers spotting the happy Lotus. He tucked a receipt for one Shounen Jump into his pocket. For him, it was quite easy to get. All he did was teleport to the store the minute the shop reopened bought the manga then teleported to school depositing the book in Lotus's shoe locker. Lotus didn't have to know it was him.

He'd rather keep it his little secret.


	25. A What Kind of Thief?

**Guest -** I'm excited about that too. I've got it all planned out.

 **Agilo - Saggezza -** I'm glad you like the personality, there doesn't need to be all angst and anger.

 **NullSilver2005 -** I haven't decided yet, but with Lotus's outgoing personality it'd be more likely that she'd be the one to ask first.

 **Guest -** I haven't decided when I'll make them a couple but I wanna do it before the end of season 1. For Lotus and Kaidou I do have an interesting chapter planned for something like that.

 **Guest -** I don't have a proofreader and it seems like my grammar correcting software isn't doing such a good job. I understand it's irking sometimes when you read something and you're like "Wait what's up with this grammar?". A proofread is not a bad suggestion.

* * *

 _This is Lotus_

 _This is Saiki_

 _~This is thoughts of others~_

* * *

 **A What Kind of Thief? - Lotus is On the Case!**

"Great job!"

"You were awesome today!"

"That final block was amazing."

Lotus smiled at the complements thanking the guys around her. She had just finished gym class, today's lesson, an intense game of soccer. Lotus had been chosen for the position of goalie.

A hand landed on Lotus's shoulder, and she looked behind her to see Hairo.

"Lotus you were incredible thanks to you we won!" Hairo cheered

"It was thanks to everyone but I'm happy to play my part," Lotus said

"You sure got dirty though," Hairo pointed out

Lotus looked down at her clothes and Hairo was correct. During her last block, she had dived for the ball, and the ground was wet, so she slid into a dirty damp patch of grass and mud.

"Guess your right huh? Good thing the girl's locker rooms have good showers," Lotus said

* * *

 _"These are some serious grass stains. Lucky I've got Ethan, he'll be able to get them out. It's amazing how he does it."_ Lotus thought

Lotus took off her clothes putting them in a plastic bag, so they wouldn't dirty anything else in her school bag. Lotus was the only one in the locker room since she was the only girl in the boy's gym class.

 _"It's nice having this place to myself,"_ Lotus thought

Lotus turned on the water and stepped in. She showered making sure to get the mud that somehow made its way in her hair.

 _"~Is that the shower?~"_

Lotus paused mid scrubbing of her hair as a male voice entered her head.

 _"What the?"_

 _"~Maybe someone just left it on.~"_

Lotus's eyes widened when she heard the door to the locker room open. Just as she was about to shout shampoo trickled into her eyes.

"Ow!" Lotus cried out rubbing her eyes.

 _"~Crap! There is someone here!~"_

The door quickly shut and footsteps started to rush away.

"Helios!" Lotus shouted

"Yes, my young descent!" Helios came from out of the wall next to Lotus.

"Some guy was trying to sneak in the girl's locker room. See if you can catch him," Lotus said

"I'm on it!" Helios left phasing through the door.

"Hopefully Helios can find the guy. I gotta get this shampoo out my eyes, man this stings," Lotus said

* * *

When Lotus got out of the shower her eyes still stung, and they were a bit red from the irritating cleanser.

 _"I'm gonna listen to Violet from now on and use that baby shampoo from now on. At least while I'm at school,"_ Lotus thought

Lotus was in the process of putting on her clothes when Helios's head popped up out of the floor.

"Greetings!"

"Gah!" Lotus shouted

Out of instinct, she kicked Helios's head, but since he was a ghost it just went right through him.

"My apologies for startling you!" Helios said

He floated up entering the room completely.

"Did you find him?" Lotus asked

"I apologize my young descendant but the miscreant got away!" Helios reported

"Darn. So you weren't able to even catch a glimpse of him?" Lotus asked

"Unfortunately no, I had got distracted, you see," Helios said

"Distracted? By what?" Lotus questioned

"By this group of young rapscallions. They were speaking with impure intentions regarding you. Such vulgar words," Hairo said

Lotus sighed, "You know regular people can't hear you much less be touched by you."

"I know but that detail had escaped my mind when I heard those young hooligans talking about you in such a manner. It's disgraceful to your honor!" Helios said

 _"Well, at least his actions came from a good place. But was a guy really trying to get into the locker room?"_ Lotus thought

* * *

Lotus was walking through the halls trying to come up with different ways to catch the peeping Tom. She sent Helios out exploring the school hoping the spirit would come up with any leads.

 _"I heard his voice in my head, so maybe I can use that to figure out who it is. Ugh! But there are so many guys in this school and so many voices constantly going off in my head all the time it'd be hard to pinpoint him."_

"I'm so sorry that happened to you Akiyoshi."

"Don't worry we'll help you find them."

"I just don't know what could have happened to my gym clothes."

 _"Huh?"_

Lotus looked further down the hall to see three girls gathered together talking.

"Excuse me," Lotus interjected herself into the trio's conversation, "Not be rude and intrude but did you happen to say something about missing gym clothes?"

The girls all turned to Lotus, the girl with black hair nodded her head.

"Yeah, my friend here's gym clothes went missing," The ebony haired girl spoke.

"One minute they were in my locker and then next thing they're gone," A Brunette said

"I see….."

 _"So a guy tries to sneak into the girl's locker room, and now some girls gym uniform is missing. A coincidence….I think not. It's a high probability that the clothes were taken by the same person. He must've done it during the boy's gym period. It'd be the perfect time since the girl's gym period doesn't overlap with the boys. But whoever it was didn't realize that at least one girl is in the male gym class."_

"Okay girls!" Lotus got a determined look putting a fist in her palm. "I'll help you find those missing gym clothes."

"Oh wow really?" One of the girls said

"Yeah," Lotus said

"Thank you very much!" The girls said

 _"Time to go detective. Lotus style."_

* * *

" _Okay, so the girl said her clothes were in a pink gym bag. Let's see how can I narrow this down even further. He tried sneaking into the girls' locker room while I was there, I don't think he'd be able to take a break long enough from class to sneak in, so he either had gym himself or lunch, maybe a free period. But if he had gym wouldn't that mean I'd know the guy? What if-"_

"Young Lotus!"

"Ah!" Lotus shouted taking a step back as Helios appeared from the ceiling.

"Helios! You're going to give me a heart attack one day!"

"My apologies, but you must come quick! I was conversing with another spirit, and he informed me that a young man was running through the corridors of the second floor a pink bag under his arm," Helios said

"Really!"

Lotus took off speeding to the stairs going up to the second floor.

"Hey did you see a guy run by here?" Lotus quickly asked a random boy.

The guy pointed down the hallway. "Yeah tw-"

Lotus didn't give the boy any time to finish before she ran off. As she rounded the corner she spotted a classroom door open at the end of the hall.

 _"Ha! Got you now!"_

Rushing over to the door Lotus charged in the room.

 _"Wha?"_

Lotus was surprised to discover who was in the classroom. Reita stood frozen wide-eyed and stunned gaping at Lotus, a girl's gym shirt in one hand, the rest of the clothes on the table along with a pink gym bag.

 _"I knew he was a pervert but not to this level. I seriously thought he was better than this,"_ Lotus thought

"Reita….I never thought you'd go this low," Lotus said

"No! Lotus you got it wrong!" Reita shouted waving his arms, "It wasn't me I swear! I was trying to catch the thief. I followed him to the classroom. He dropped the clothes too! I'm innocent I swear!"

Even without reading his mind Lotus had a feeling he was telling the truth, she still did read his mind, just to be 100% sure.

"Alright Reita, calm down I believe you," Lotus said

"Oh thank goodness," Reita let out a sigh of relief.

 _"~If I go down as the school's gym clothes thief no girl will come within 5 miles of me,~"_ Reita thought

"Where did the guy go? I came in the only entrance," Lotus said

"He jumped out the window!" Reita exclaimed

"Seriously!?" Lotus said

She ran out of the room hoping she'd be able to catch the guy. As she jogged by she encountered the three girls from earlier, telling them the missing clothes were found gesturing to classroom Reita was in.

* * *

Lotus quickly headed outside, but she probably should've told the girls that Reita wasn't the thief before she left.

Once outside Lotus made her way to the window where the thief had jumped out.

When she located the window there was no hide or hair of the guy, but below the window was a set of crumpled bushes the thief had landed in.

 _"Good thing these were there. The windows on the second floor, he could have seriously hurt himself. Well even though he landed in these bushes he's still gonna feel something tomorrow, judging by how most of the branches are broken he landed pretty hard. So, he dropped the clothes and ran huh? Well, I might not have caught the guy but at least the clothes were recovered. But how to keep him from doing this again?"_ Lotus thunk with a thoughtful look on her face until an idea popped in her head.

* * *

"Whoa Reita, those girls sure did a number on you," Lotus commented

"No kidding," Reita said

"I guess that's partly my fault. I was so focused on finding the real culprit that I forgot how guilty you looked to anyone else holding those girls clothes," Lotus said

Lotus wiped off the dirt one of the girl's footprints left on Reita's face.

 _"~She's got super soft hands!~"_

"Quit it before I give you another bump to add to ones already on your head," Lotus stated

Reita sweat dropped chuckling putting his hands up.

"It sucks though that we won't be able to find that guy," Reita said

"Why Reita, I have come up with an ingenious plan that will guarantee that the pervert will be apprehended," Lotus said

"How's that?" Reita questioned

* * *

Next day

"Got you, Peeping Tom!"

"That's how," Lotus smirked

"Coach Matsuzaki!?" A male voice cried

Lotus had an accomplished smile on her face. "You see I simply told Coach Matsuzaki that a boy was sneaking in the girl's locker room. I knew he'd be on high alert and it wouldn't take any time for him to catch the guy."

Coach Matsuzaki came down the hall dragging a guy by the back of his school uniform jacket. Matsuzaki was yelling at the teen reprimanding him for his poor actions and listing off the punishments heading his way.

"No please don't! Give me detention for the rest the year, the rest of my school life, just please don't call my mom!" The clothes' thief begged

As the two left around the corner a ghost appeared poking his upper torso out the wall.

"I was afraid this would happen, but maybe it's for the best. This might be what he needs to set him straight," The ghost said before going back in the wall.

"That was...odd. Well at least I don't have to worry about someone seeing me naked in the shower at school anymore," Lotus said

 _"Wait, what?"_

"Oh hey Saiki what's up where've you been?" Lotus said

 _"Why wasn't I in this chapter?"_ Saiki questioned

"Huh?"


	26. Reign of the Small King

**Ariel2812 -** I'm glad I was a bit worried that the pacing was too slow.

 **Guest -** I'm looking forward to writing about Saiki's brother too. Its gonna be good.

 **Guest -** I think that's a good suggestion for Violet's voice actor, but I'm not sure about Ethan. I'm thinking Eric Vale for Ethan.

* * *

 _This is Lotus_

 _This is Saiki_

 _~This is the thoughts of others~_

* * *

 **Reign of the Small King - Some People Just Aren't Cat People**

Lotus stood next to Saiki as the two watched a pair of girls from a different school fawn over a stray cat.

"Hey, Saiki do you like cats? I don't really see you as a dog person. Maybe some other kind of small creature as a pet, one that doesn't make too much noise, like a rabbit," Lotus speculated

 _"I don't care,"_ Saiki stated

"Hmm yeah that seems like the right answer coming from you," Lotus said

 _"No matter how cute the cat or friendly the dog, to me they just look like this-"_

The cat's skin becomes see-through so you could see the muscle beneath.

 _"-and this."_

Then the muscle vanished so you could only see the skeleton.

 _"So I ask you do you like the bones on the left or the bones on right?"_

Lotus shivered at the sight. She doesn't spend enough time with Saiki for the x-ray vision to always be on, but it seems like whenever she forgets that she can see through stuff the power pops back up.

 _"There's also the impression the animal gives like this cat seems loving and this dog seems loyal. But that's just people projecting their own desires."_

One of the schoolgirls scratched the cat under its chin.

 _"~Don't touch me so casually female homosapien.~"_

 _"That's what he's really thinking."_

"Huh? You know I always kind of had this feeling that cats thought they were better than us. My mother actually hates them, she says they like to climb on top of high objects so they can look down on us." Lotus said

The two teens walked away from the girls, who were still gushing over the cat, that they still had no clue was berating them.

* * *

"I get what you mean Saiki. Since I've been able to read thoughts my view on a lot of things has changed, animals included. But I still like them. I think the ability to read their minds is kind of a good thing because you'll be able to pick out the animal that has the best personality that matches with your own. Before I never would've thought about getting a ferret but Sir Henry and I go great together. I always thought if I was gonna have a pet it'd be a dog," Lotus said

 _"Why a dog?"_ Saiki questioned

"Because of their upbeat friendly attitude. I love how happy and playful they are. So full of energy. Plus they make great companions, comfort you when you're sad, and protect you as well," Lotus said

Saiki stared at Lotus recognizing that those personality qualities were the same ones that Lotus herself possessed.

 _"You're like a dog,"_ Saiki commented

Instead of being offended like anyone else would have been Lotus just smiled shrugging her shoulders.

"If you weren't my friend and I didn't know your personality I'd find that comment insulting."

Lotus continued to smile as she walked with Saiki. As of late he no longer denied it whenever Lotus said they were friends. He wouldn't admit it either nor would he say it himself but the fact that he would no longer deny it was good for Lotus. A big step towards progress in her mind.

"I was honestly contemplating getting a dog, but now that I've got Sir Henry there's really no need. Maybe later, but Sir Henry will have to approve of whatever animal that I bring in the house," Lotus said

* * *

Saiki and Lotus split on their way home, the reason being that Lotus needed to go to the store to grab some things, so she could cook dinner.

Entering the grocery store Lotus grabbed a basket and began searching around.

 _"Let's see now, I know Ethan was really craving something with potatoes, so I'm gonna need a few of those. Then Violet said she's been wanting chicken. There's also dessert, something light for tonight."_

Strolling about the store Lotus collected the necessary ingredients for dinner.

 _"Okay, up next is cooking oil."_

Lotus rounded the corner of an aisle going down another but paused.

"Huh?" Lotus spotted a familiar boy climbing up the shelves in the aisle trying to reach an item on the very top.

Kitaro was pulling himself up struggling to reach for a bottle that was mocking him on the very top shelf.

 _"~Almost there.~"_ Kitaro thought

Lotus watched as Kitaro's hand brushed the bottle he was grasping at, his fingertips just grazing the bottle.

 _"I better-!"_

"Ah!"

Kitaro cried out as his foot slipped, and he fell back. The boy closed his eyes bracing himself for the impact but rather than having a rough landing Kitaro was surprised as he came in contact with a soft surface.

"You okay there?" Lotus asked

Kitaro opened his eyes stunned to find himself cradled in Lotus's arms like a groom does his bride.

"Lotus? Oh, uh thanks for catching me," Kitaro gratefully spoke

 _"~I'm glad I didn't hit the ground but my pride as a man sure took a hit.~"_

Lotus sweatdropped, _"Sorry Kitaro."_

She set her friend down about to say something but gasped as something came into her field of vision. She quickly reached around Kitaro grabbing the grocery basket, she accidentally left floating when she ran to catch her friend.

 _"That was close. Good thing this store is almost empty,"_ Lotus thought

"Your grocery shopping too? What are you getting?" Kitaro asked

"I'm just picking up a few things to make dinner," Lotus said

"Funny so am I," Kitaro gestured to the cart off to the side.

"Oh," Lotus inspected the contents of the cart, "What are you making?"

Kitaro chuckled rubbing the back of his head. "The thing about that, I'm not sure myself. I was hoping if I started grabbing stuff then I'd be inspired to what I wanted to make."

"I see…..with that in mind though you might be in the store for a while," Lotus said

"Yeah….I was hoping I wouldn't though, I really gotta get this stuff and get home. My siblings walk home after school and I really don't like leaving them alone," Kitaro said

Lotus chuckled, "Little mischievous are they?" She joked

"Yeah, that's one way of describing them," Kitaro said

"How about I help you find something to cook. I did promise to help you with that after all! We can think of it as your first lesson. You can't make a good meal without proper ingredients," Lotus said

"Really? I'd hate to impose on you," Kitaro said

"It's not imposing if I'm offering. Besides, I gotta shop too. Makes more sense if we do it together," Lotus said

"Thank you, Lotus," Kitaro said

"Okay first we gotta decide what you'll be making, so we can get the right things," Lotus said

"I seriously have no idea," Kitaro said

"Well, what do you wanna have?" Lotus questioned

"I'm not really in the mood for anything in particular," Kitaro said

 _"~I just really wanna cook something Mom will enjoy.~"_ Kitaro thought

Picking up on Kitaro's thoughts Lotus asked another question.

"Well if you don't want anything, what would your family like? You're cooking for them too right?" Lotus questioned

"What my family would want?" Kitaro put a hand on his chin thinking.

 _"~I was so focused on what I was gonna make I forgot who I was trying to make it for. But I'm still not that good at cooking so whatever I make need can't be complicated or I'd just end up ruining it.~"_

Lotus put a hand on Kitaro's shoulder, "Don't worry so much Kitaro. I know you're new to cooking, so I can give you a simple recipe and I'm sure that whatever you make as long as you put your heart into it, your family will love it."

 _"~Whoa she can read me like a book, but her words are really comforting.~"_

"Now let's hurry before those siblings of yours get in any shenanigans. Is anyone in your family allergic to anything?" Lotus asked

* * *

"Thanks a bunch, Lotus. I'll tell you how everything went tomorrow," Kitaro said

"I'm sure you'll make a wonderful dinner. Let's set up a day when we can do some 101 cooking, I can start teaching you some culinary techniques," Lotus said

"Yeah sounds good," Kitaro said

Lotus waved to her short friend as the two split off going their separate ways home.

* * *

A brown cat with a red bandanna wrapped around his neck sat outside the Kusuo household. Anpu was his name, a cat who had become Saiki's adversary, well in the cat's view that is.

 _"Huh? A cat?"_

Anpu turned around spotting a pink haired girl carrying two grocery bags.

"What are you doing outside Saiki's house? I'm like 99.9% sure that he doesn't have a cat….or any animal for that matter," Lotus said

 _"~Does this human know that rude human?~"_ Anpu questioned

"Huh? Are you talking about Saiki?" Lotus asked the cat.

 _"~Who?~"_ Anpu asked

"The guy that lives here? Pink hair? Stony gaze?" Lotus questioned poting at the Kusuo house.

 _"~Yeah. He's that human who-! What you can speak cat?!"_ Anpu shouted

"No, I'm speaking through my mind," Lotus said

 _"~Are you part cat?~"_ Anpu asked

"No, I'm not," Lotus said

 _"~So this human knows that human?~"_ Anpu got a wicked smile on his face. _"~I know since my first plan didn't work then….I'll take his place in her heart!~"_

"Replace who in whose heart?" Lotus questioned confused

 _"~Yeah I can see it now. 'Oh I can't be with you I've got a cute adorable cat waiting for me.' That's what she'll tell him. This is even better than taking over his home.~"_ Anpu chuckled to himself.

 _"What in the world is he talking about? Also, how fast did he forget that I can hear him?"_ Lotus thought

 _"~Human,~"_ Anpu addressed Lotus.

"My name's Lotus," She stated

 _"~Human-"_

 _"Okay rude."_

 _"-today is your lucky day!~"_

"And why is that?" Lotus questioned

 _"~I shall let you take me home, I'll even let you stroke me under the chin once a day,~"_ Anpu said

 _"If I'm not mistaken it sounds like he thinks he's doing me a favor."_ Lotus thought

Before she could open her mouth to reject the offer, something scampered up her body before resting on her shoulders.

Sir Henry, who had been observing the interaction from the window in Lotus's room, had made his way outside and clambered up Lotus perching on her shoulders.

 _"~Begone peasant.~"_ Sir Henry stated curtly.

 _"~What? A big rat?~"_ Anpu questioned

Sir Henry's small eyes sharped in a glare as he hissed.

 _"Did he just hiss? I never knew ferrets could hiss."_

 _"~How dare you. I will not allow the ill-mannered likes of you to enter this home. Leave, now.~"_

"Sir Henry that was rude, but he's right, you have to go. _Now_. And when I mean now I mean now," Lotus spoke emphasizing the word "now".

"Lotus what are you doing?" Violet questioned poking her head outside from the front door.

Lotus jumped quickly turning around while at the same using her body to obscure Violet's view of the cat.

"Nothing Violet. Just got distracted is all." Lotus said

"Alright-"

"Meow."

 _"Crap!"_ Lotus thought

Anpu stepped around Lotus giving an, "I'm the cutest thing in the world," look to Violet.

"A cat?" Violet questioned

 _"~This is too easy all I hav-AHHH!~"_

Anpu jumped screeching just barely avoiding a book being thrown at him, courtesy of Violet.

"Get out of here! Scat you little devil!" Violet shouted

The woman pulled out a broom and started waving it around like a weapon.

 _"Where the heck did she get that from?"_

Lotus watched with Sir Henry as her sister chased the feline down the street.

 _"I tried to warn him. My mothers hated for cats is shared with Violet."_


	27. Christmas's Silent Night

_This is Lotus_

 _This is Saiki_

 ** _This is Saiki and Lotus_**

 _~This is the thoughts of others~_

* * *

 **Christmas's Silent Night - Yeah, that ain't so Silent**

"Are you going to be okay?" Violet questioned

"I'll be fine," Lotus responded

"But Mom and Dad aren't here yet," Violet said

"How can we leave little Lotus here alone?" Ethan questioned concerned.

"Ethan's right. We have to postpone our flight and wait until Mom and Dad get here," Violet stated

Lotus's eyes go wide, and she waves her hands. "No, no, no! You guys can't cancel your flight because of me. With the way the weather's going you might not be able to get another flight before Christmas. I can't have you guys ruining your plans over me."

"Oh, Lotus….."

Ethan and Violet squash Lotus wrapping her up in a tight hug.

"You're so sweet!"

"So thoughtful!"

Lotus sighed waiting for the two to finish their gushing.

* * *

"Alright call us the moment Mom and Dad get here," Violet instructed her sister.

"Can do," Lotus promised giving her sister a salute.

Violet giggled, "So cute. We'll miss you."

"I'll miss you guys too," Lotus said

She gave her sister and Ethan a hug before the two got in their taxi. The vehicle pulled off heading for the airport.

Lotus gave a sad smile waving as the car drove off. Going back in the house Lotus went to her room, where Sir Henry was resting in his bed. She took a seat at her desk and opened the drawer pulling out a white envelope.

"Well Sir Henry, looks like its just gonna be me and you for the holidays."

"And me too!" Helios shouted appearing.

"Yes and you too," Lotus said

* * *

Lotus was in the living room with Sir Henry on her lap. Using one hand she slowly stroked Sir Henry while using her other hand she wrote on a piece of paper.

"Okay, let's see, I already mailed out the presents, and I made sure to give Ethan and Violet the other ones. All of the decorating is done, all that's left is to get the food. I won't be making as much as I normally would. There's no need to cook a whole turkey or ham, so what to make? Hmmm, what do you think Sir Henry turkey or ham? Or maybe we could try something new."

 _"~I trust your judgment Lotus, but I am very fond of tarts.~"_ Sir Henry said

Lotus smiled scratching under Sir Henry's chin. "Then I'll make sure to make plenty for you. I think I'll stick with chicken as the main dish."

* * *

Lotus was humming as she exited the grocery store, bags in hand.

 _"Alright, I've got everything for a small Christmas dinner for one girl and one ferret. Bet no one's ever said that before."_

As she walked home Lotus's cheery mood started to turn sour hearing people's thoughts.

A couple passed by, appearing to be totally enamored with one another.

 _"~This guy's got way more money than my last boyfriend. My presents better be amazing or I'm dumping him.~"_ The woman thought

Another couple walked by, the girlfriend chatting excitedly while the boyfriend seemed to be phoning it in on the conversation.

 _"~Man she talks so much, does she really think I even care about this crap? All I have to do is last through the holidays then its bye-bye chatterbox.~"_

Lotus frowned proceeding down the shopping district.

 _"Were people always this terrible during the holiday season? Reading minds is such a strain."_ Lotus thought

Picking up her pace Lotus weaved through the crowd, hoping to get home quicker to get out of the sea of annoying thoughts. In the midst of the crowd, Lotus spotted a familiar head of pink hair.

 _"Saiki?"_

Hearing his name echo through his mind Saiki turned around spotting Lotus.

 _"Are you following me?"_ Saiki questioned

"Haha very funny. I'm just out getting some holiday groceries. What about you?" Lotus asked

Saiki didn't have the chance to answer before someone else entered the conversation.

"Hello there."

Lotus changed her focus going from Saiki to a black-haired woman, Saiki's mother, Kurumi Saiki.

"Oh, Mrs. Saiki. Hello," Lotus gave a slight bow, "Happy Holidays."

"Happy Holidays to you too dear. What brings you out here in the cold?" Kurumi asked

Lotus gestured to her bags, "I was just getting some food to cook for my Christmas dinner."

"What a funny coincidence so was Kusuo and I," Kurumi said

Saiki just watched as his mother conserved with Lotus, wondering how the two kept up their smiles in the frosty temperature.

"Are you out shopping with your family?" Kurumi asked

"No, it's just me," Lotus said

"Oh, where are they? At home decorating?" Kurumi questioned curious about her families holiday plans.

"Actually my sister and Ethan rotate having Christmas with my family and Ethan's family. This year it was Ethan's turn, he and my sister flew out a few days ago." Lotus said

"And what about your parents?" Kurumi asked

"Oh, well my parents aren't here right now. Their work has them constantly traveling, currently they're in a different country," Lotus said

"Oh my will they be home for the holidays?" Kurumi asked

Lotus gave a light chuckle. "They won't be, unfortunately, they weren't able to leave their work to come."

Kurumi gasped. "So you're all alone for the holidays!? Your sister and brother left you here?"

Lotus gave another chuckle rubbing the back of her head. "No, they necessarily didn't leave me here on purpose or anything like that. Ethan rarely gets to see his family and Violet loves visiting them. I knew if I told them that our parents couldn't come spend the holidays with me they'd cancel their trip. So I just let that little detail slip. I am gonna miss having my family around for the holidays but I'm also glad that my sister and Ethan will have a fun time, and I won't really be alone I have my pet, Sir Henry, to keep me company. Plus I know they'll video call me, so will my parents. It's just one Christmas I'm sure I'll survive."

At the end of Lotus's explanation, Kurumi was in tears.

The crying woman quickly got in front of Lotus grabbing the girls hands surprising the pink teen.

"You sweet selfless girl! You have to come spend the holidays with us!" Kurumi declared

 _"Huh?!"_

"And I won't take no for an answer! I can't let Kuu's future girlfriend spend the holidays alone!" Kurumi cried

 _"Wha?!"_

Lotus whipped her head looking towards Saiki but the boy had his attention focused in another direction, avoiding Lotus's gaze.

Lotus looked back and forth between Kurumi and Saiki. She was certainly expecting Saiki to reject, but she was shocked when none of his thoughts of refusal entered her mind. Normally Saiki would voice his disapproval, rather quickly too, but hearing her explanation….no one wasn't that cold-hearted to let Lotus spend the holidays alone.

Saiki peeks out the corner of his eye glimpsing at Lotus and his Mother. The pink haired girl embarrassed as his mother happily talked to the girl, not letting go of her hands. Even though she was embarrassing him, Saiki did like the happy look his mother had on her face.

* * *

"Alright I'm all finished," Lotus smiled to herself as she put a bow on a small box. "Do you guys think they'll like it?"

 _"~I myself would be very pleased with the gift,~"_ Sir Henry said

"It's lovely young Lotus," Helios said

"Good. It's hard to come up with something last minute but it'd be rude not to."

Lotus grabbed the present placing it in a bag with another box.

"Okay, you guys I'll be over at Saiki's house, Sir Henry if you need me just send over Helios."

* * *

Lotus stood outside of the Saiki residence marveling over their Christmas decorations. She let out an impressed whistle admiring all the details and hard work that had been put into the decorating.

"This family goes all out. Gotta admire their dedication though, but man their light bill around the holidays must be ridiculous."

Lotus knocked on the door and only had to wait a brief moment before it swung open.

"Yay, you made it!"

"Let's get this party started!"

"Nendou?"

* * *

Lotus was truly surprised to find Nendou in Saiki's home. The grumpy Saiki was not pleased either, he sat isolated in a chair that faced the wall.

Lotus held back a giggle noticing that Saiki had his legs pulled up to his chest reminding her of a pouting child.

 _"Saiki, you look like your in time out,"_ Lotus giggled

 _"Quiet you."_

Lotus took off her peacoat revealing her outfit for the evening.

"That's a lovely outfit," Kurumi complimented

Lotus smiled, "Thank you. My brother made it for me."

The holiday season meant Ethan was a busy man, not just because he got an influx of orders, but he also created new clothes for Lotus and Violet's wardrobe. When the seasons change their wardrobes are swapped out with an array of new apparel to fit the current season. Obviously this new set of clothing centers around winter and the holidays.

Today Lotus's outfit was a white sweater dress the bottom decorated with translucent snowflakes that glinted whenever the light hit it the right way. Completing the ensemble was a pair of brown knee-high boots and an off-white Santa hat.

"So Nendou what are you doing here?" Lotus asked

"Mrs. Saiki ran into me at the store and invited me, and how could I not come to my best buddies place for a party?" Nendou explained

 _"This isn't a party. Someone, please end my misery. Not that I play them but this feels like a Christmas scenario in a dating simulator."_ Saiki said

 _"And how would you know that if you didn't play them?"_ Lotus inquired with a playful smirk.

Saiki cut his eyes at Lotus causing the girl to give a subtle chuckle.

"I'm back!" A voice sounded as the front door opened.

 _"Oh, right I almost forgot we were missing one more weirdo."_

 _"Wait am I included in this gaggle of weirdos?"_

 _"What do you think?"_ Saiki responded

 _"Says the boy who can see through things and lift a building without using his hands."_

 _"Says the girl who has the power to supernaturally copy anything."_

 _"Touche Saiki, Touche….."_

"Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas!" Kuniharu walked into the room dressed as Santa Clause.

The costume wouldn't be too bad, if it wasn't for the fact that his brown hair was displayed under his Santa hat. It really clashed with his fake gray beard and eyebrows.

 _"He got the fake beard and even the eyebrows to match, but why not a wig?"_ Lotus thought

"Santa's here with presents!" Kuniharu announced but paused as he stepped into the room when he spotted Nendou and Lotus.

Lotus just awkwardly smiled waving to the man. Nendou, however, was frozen staring amazed and slack-jawed at Kuniharu.

 _"What's up with Nendou? Did he break?"_

 _"He's always been broken."_

Kuniharu walked over to his wife, taking off his "disguise".

"I thought this was supposed to be just family. Now I look like a fool," Kuniharu said

 _"That's because you are."_

"Who are those two?" Kuniharu asked

"Well, the boy is Kusuo's friend Nendou," Kurumi said

"Kusuo has a friend!" Kuniharu shouted before he started crying.

 _"You too?"_

"But how Kusuo's such a cold jerk if I went to school with him, and he didn't have powers I'd punch him in the face," Kuniharu said

 _"Wow, thanks, Dad."_

Lotus sweatdropped, _"I'm starting to see where Saiki gets his blunt personality from."_

"Hello, Nendou!" Kuniharu greeted turning to the boy. "I'm Kusuo's Dad, Kuniharu. I've heard so much about you."

Nendou, unaware of the creepy look he was making, greeted Kuniharu back. "Hello, nice to finally meet you Mr. Kusuo's Dad."

Kuniharu stared a bit disturbed, _"~He seems like a thug.~"_

He turned back to his wife. "Is he really Kusuo's friend. He seems more like the dumb bully type."

"He's a good kid," Kurumi affirmed

 _"We can hear you."_

Nendou, who was pretty much oblivious to the Kuniharu's suspicions of him, crouched on the ground picking up the discard Santa gear.

"This is a great costume I thought you were really Santa."

"Oh what? Thanks, kid," Kuniharu said with a bashful yet proud expression.

 _"Now you like him?"_

 _"I wonder if they've forgotten about me?"_ Lotus thought

The moment the words entered her mind, and as if Kuniharu could read them, he glanced at Lotus.

"And what about her? There's no way she's Kusuo's friend. She's way too cute," Kuniharu said

 _"We can **still** hear you."_

"She's actually Kusuo's girlfriend," Kurumi stated

"His what!?" Kuniharu yelled shocked

"N-No it's not-!"

Lotus was cut off as Saiki's Dad ran over to her grabbing the girls hands. "Thank you for dating my son! I never thought I'd live to see this day!" The man was crying even harder than when he had heard Nendou was his son's friend.

 _"Are you seriously crying again?"_

"She's going to make a great daughter-in-law one day," Kurumi claimed

"Wait I-!"

"This must be a Christmas miracle. I mean a cute girl like her showing interest in Kusuo is amazing," Kuniharu said

 _"I'm contemplating on sending you to another country and leaving you there to figure out your own way home."_

"Oh before I forget these are for you guys," Lotus held up her bag.

"What are these for?" Kuniharu asked

"Just some gifts. I thought it'd be rude to come over to your house for Christmas without a gift for you all. It's not much but I hope you like them."

Kuniharu smiled. "You're too kind."

"It's the least I could do, since you guys opened your home up to me," Lotus said

"Isn't she just the sweetest," Kurumi smiled

Kuniharu was once again brought to tears as Lotus watched awkwardly.

* * *

Lotus helped Kurumi set up the table and dinner was severed. Kuniharu led the toast and everyone clinked their glasses cheering, well everyone but Saiki. Noting that his glass didn't touch anyone else, Lotus reached over clicking her's with Saiki's. One to get him included, and two she knew it would annoy him just a bit.

"Merry Christmas!"

Kuniharu went over to Nendou throwing an arm over the teen's shoulder.

"Well, Nendou I think you just a big kid under all that beef."

 _"Your acting like the host for an exchange student. And those two…."_

Saiki looked to his mother who was giddily conversing with Lotus. Saiki had to keep his eyes on those two, if he wasn't careful his mother would bring out the baby book.

"Before Kusuo even turned one he was already treating his old man like I was something he found in his diaper," Kuniharu said

 _"You should have taken that hint."_

 _"Huh? Baby Saiki? I bet he still had that prominent narrowed stare but still be really cute."_

It took a second for Lotus to realize what she had thought, and she blushed a smidge erasing the thought from her mind.

"Yeah I can tell by the way you listen to me you're a really good kid," Kuniharu said

Nendou chuckled, "I don't know if I'm really that good sir. When I was little Santa never visited my house."

As if all the cheer had been sucked out of the room, everyone paused looking at Nendou.

"No way!" Kuniharu shouted, "But why would your Dad deprive you like that?"

"Oh, my Dad's dead," Nendou stated bringing the mood of the room down even further. "He passed away before I was even born."

The sound of a chair scraping across the hardwood floor reverberated through the room as Kurumi quickly stood up.

"What?!"

The two adults in the room wore saddened expressions, clouds of depression rolling over them.

"I….I had no idea Nendou," Kuniharu said

"I'm sorry my husband even said that," Kurumi apologized

Nendou, unaffected by the cloudy atmospheres laughed. "Why? Doesn't bother me." He gave a thumbs up with a beaming smile. "I've still got my mom and I rather have her then Santa once a year."

"Nendou….that's so….." Lotus sniffled a bit, Nendou's words making her want to cry.

Kuniharu and Kurumi were also hit by the sentiment of Nendou's words and forced smiles on their faces.

"I see, Nendou would you please excuse us," Kuniharu said

"You three keep eating," Kurumi said

As the two left the room, light sobbing could be heard.

"That's odd. Anyway it's pretty cool your Dad still comes home in a Santa Claus costume," Nendou said

As per usual Saiki ignored Nendou.

 _"I have a feeling this nights about to get even more uncomfortable."_

Lotus focused on eating hoping the savory taste of the home cooked meal would wash away the bittersweet taste that Nendou's words left in her mouth.

The door to the room reopened and Kurumi entered, a pleasant smile displayed on her face.

"I'm back, sorry for stepping out."

"No prob, where's my buddies Dad?" Nendou asked

"He had to leave for a work thing. Something about a client needing their shoes licked," Kurumi told the three.

"What in the world does your father do?" Lotus questioned Saiki.

"Anyway let's eat," Kurumi said

Lotus was in the midst of taking a sip from her drink when the back sliding doors started to shake.

Everyone looked to see Kuniharu, once again dressed like Santa, trying to get inside.

"Ah oh no! There's a man dressed like Santa trying to break in!" Nendou cried out.

"Oh my!" Kurumi walked over to the door unlocking it.

Kuniharu stepped in, "I told you to unlock it for me." He sort of whispered

"I'm sorry I didn't think you'd be so fast getting over to the door," Kurumi replied

 _"You're so sloppy."_

Lotus chuckled behind her glass obscuring her growing smile. Their over the top antics was reminding her more and more of her own family.

"Hello Nendou, it's nice to meet you I'm Santa," Kuniharu spoke, lowering the pitch of his voice.

 _"That worse than I expected. Pulling the exact same stunt twice is bound to fail. Even Nendou would notice."_

 _"You might wanna take a look at Nendou's face."_

"Oh, my gosh Satan Clause is here!"

 _"Then again-"_

 ** _"-this is Nendou were talking about."_** The two Psychics thought together.

An excited Nendou walked over Kuniharu asking to shake the man's hand, who happily complied.

 _"He's getting carried away."_

"I just remember you fly around with reindeer!" Nendou suddenly exclaimed

"What? Huh?" Kuniharu stuttered

"I've always wanted to see a reindeer in person," Nendou said

"Uh-Okay they're grazing just outside on the lawn. Go look." Kuniharu said

 _"~Kusuo help me out!~"_

 _"You're on your own."_

"Kuu please it's Christmas be giving," Kurumi asked

Saiki wanted to sigh. _"Seriously?"_

If there was one person Saiki had trouble denying it'd be his mother.

 _"Fine, I'll do it."_ He complied

Nendou stepped out into the backyard just in time for a deer to appear.

"Oh wow, a real reindeer! That's awesome!" Nendou loudly cried.

 _"It's just a normal deer."_

 _"Thank you, Saiki. That was really nice."_

Saiki adjusted his glasses glancing away from Lotus's smile.

Kuniharu grabbed a large white sack pulling out a green present with a red bow.

"Here Nendou it's for you."

"What? A present?" Nendou said

 _"Isn't that my present?"_

 _"Not that this isn't sweet and all but I'm sure Saiki's and Nendou's taste are way too different to be giving away presents like that."_

A childlike smile bloomed on Nendou's face as he held the gift. "Yeah, that's two presents!"

"What? You have two gifts? I thought you said you've never gotten one before?" Kuniharu said

"Yeah, nothing from Santa but I still get one from my Mom. Every year when I'm asleep she comes in and puts a present right next to my pillow. I never knew why she didn't just give it to me herself. Oh well."

Everyone stared at Nendou amazed by both his mother's efforts to preserve Santa and the obliviousness of Nendou himself.

 _"Your mom is a Saint."_

* * *

"Are you sure you don't want to stay a little longer dear? We even have a guest room you could stay here until your family gets home," Kurumi offered

"No that's fine really," Lotus said

 _"If I stay any longer I'll only feel more guilty for intruding on your family's holiday."_

"Then you must come over for the New Years, and I won't take no for an answer," Kurumi cheerfully asserted

 _"She has a sweet smile, but she's serious about that not taking 'no' for an answer thing."_

 _"She is,"_ Saiki said

"Alright then. I'll be sure to come over for the New Year's." Lotus gave Kurumi a bow, "Thank you very much for letting me enjoy the holidays in your home."

"It's my pleasure dear," Kurumi said

Kuniharu slid up next to his wife giving Lotus a smile. "It doesn't have to be the holidays either, you can come by anytime. Kusuo aren't you going to walk your girlfriend home, what kind boyfriend are you?"

 _"I'm not any kind of boyfriend."_

Even with his denial Saiki still grabbed his coat going outside with Lotus. He needed a short break from the evening he just had.

* * *

Obviously, it took the two no time to walk Lotus home since the girl lived right across the street.

"Thank you for having me over Saiki, even though it really wasn't your choice. I'm still glad though and I had fun. Before you go, I got you something. I wanted to give it to you myself."

Lotus reached into jacket pocket pulling out a small box.

"This is for you Saiki." Lotus smiled handing over a small present.

The box was clad in pink wrapping tied up with a green bow.

 _"You know you didn't have to get me anything,"_ Saiki stated

"I know, but I wanted too," Lotus said still smiling.

Saiki gazed at the present wondering what could be inside. He was about to open it but paused. He didn't know what was inside. He had no clue. Since he couldn't hear Lotus's thoughts he didn't automatically know what the present was. He was actually going to be surprised by a gift. Saiki felt, dare he say it, a bit excited.

"Huh? Something wrong? Aren't you gonna open it?" Lotus asked

Saiki unwrapped the gift now curious as to what was inside. Taking the top off the box he saw a piece of plastic inside, a gift card to be more prices for a local cafe.

"Surprised ya huh? It gets you ten free coffee jelly. Also, check under it," Lotus said

Saiki lifted up the gift card to find a key chain underneath it. It was just a small charm shaped like the odd dessert Saiki so loved.

"Ethan helped me make it. I'm not sure how you feel about keychains but I thought you might like it if it was shaped like coffee jelly," Lotus said

Saiki stared at the gifts a feeling bubbling inside him, a feeling he normally only gets when he's enjoying the lovely taste of coffee jelly. But this time the feeling was sparked by the smiling pink haired girl that stood before him.

 _"Wait here."_

Saiki teleported leaving behind a confused Lotus. She wasn't sure how long she waited, but around 10 minutes, Saiki reappeared, with something in his hand.

 _"Here."_

"Huh?" Lotus blinked surprised as Saiki held out a small pink box wrapped with a white bow. "F-For me?"

Saiki did not respond simply placing the box into Lotus's hands.

 _"You gave me a gift, so I have to return the favor. You know I don't like owing people,"_ Saiki stated

Lotus stared stunned at the gift astonished that Saiki got her something for Christmas. She really wasn't expecting anything in return for what she gave him, so this was a total surprise. With a shaky hand, she unwraps the box taking the top off.

Lotus gave a silent gasp seeing what was inside. Resting on a soft white pillow in the box was a necklace. The ornament of the necklace was a pink orbed jewel attached to a silver chain. Lotus examined the jewel looking up, she quickly realized that the orb resembled the orbs on Saiki's antenna.

Saiki looked away from the girl covering the lower half of his mouth with his hand. If Lotus didn't know better she would say that he looked bashful.

 _"Your powers are increasing, so I thought it'd be a good idea for you to have a limiter of your own. Since you insist on spending your time with me you're gonna need it, I don't need you drawing attention to yourself then that attention drifting over to me. I thought a necklace would be best."_

Lotus felt her cheeks get warm. She took the necklace out of the box putting it on.

"I love it!"

To her own surprise, Lotus lept forward wrapping her arms around Saiki. Saiki was frozen as Lotus embraced him. No one outside of his family really ever made an attempt to hug him, and he typically avoided them like the plague due to his psychometry. So with Lotus arms entangled around him, Saiki was at a loss. The warmth of Lotus's body nuzzled against Saiki's was comforting.

 **DOKI…..DOKI…...DOKI**

Saiki felt a rush of something foreign go through his body and as if his arms had a mind of their own they slowly started to raise going to wrap around Lotus.

Lotus, who had been caught up in the moment, finally realized what she was doing. She gave a silent gasp pulling away from Saiki, just before his arms could wrap around her.

Lotus's cheeks were pink as she looked anywhere but Saiki.

"S-Sorry about that. I guess I got carried away huh?"

Saiki didn't know what to say to the girl. The blush on her cheeks and the timid demeanor was cute. Saiki knew, from an objective standpoint, that Lotus was pretty. But something was different about that statement now. Saiki not only knew Lotus was pretty, he thought she was too.

"Thank you again, Saiki. For the gift, it was really thoughtful," Lotus said

 _"Your welcome."_

After their time together Saiki still didn't know what to make of Lotus. He thought the moment she entered his life she would be a nuisance, but Lotus, she was different. She was simply Lotus, and Saiki liked that. Maybe….

 _"You are my friend after all."_

Lotus's eyes widened dramatically as she gaped at Saiki.

"W-What did you say?"

 _"I'm not repeating myself."_

Lotus's look of surprise morphed into one of pure happiness.

"Yes!" She cheered, fist bumping the air. "I knew it! I knew we were friends!"

Lotus continued to cheer about her established friendship.

Saiki gave a small smile watching the jovial girl, as the warm feeling from Lotus's hug still enveloped his being, her glowing smile, making him even warmer.

 **DOKI….DOKI…..DOKI**

Yeah having Lotus around wasn't a bad thing at all.

* * *

Lotus laid down in bed smiling as she gently caressed the jewel hanging around her neck.

 _"Yeah….today was a great Christmas."_

Lotus slowly started to drift off, sleep about to take over. When she was on the brink of entering the land of slumber Lotus suddenly sat up eyes springing wide open.

"Crap! I forgot to call Violet and Ethan!"


	28. Noisy New Year

**JadeNoRyuu -** Yes the necklace will tie into Kuusuke's meeting with Lotus.

* * *

 _This is Lotus_

 _This is Saiki_

 ** _This is Saiki and Lotus_**

 _~This is the thoughts of others~_

 **Noisy New Year - What's That Memory?!**

"Mom! Dad! Merry Christmas!" Violet greeted

"Merry Christmas!" Her parents echoed back.

"Are you having fun dear?" Mrs. Yamaguchi asked

"I-"

A loud crash in the background cut off Violet. A shout could be heard followed by a strangled gasp of "Let me go!".

Violet smiled looking back at the computer's camera. "I'm having a blast."

"That's good dear," Mr. Yamaguchi said

"How did you like your presents?" Violet asked

"We loved them! You and your sister know us so well," Mrs. Yamaguchi said

"That's great. How did you guys like the house? Ethan picked it out himself," Violet said

Mr. Yamaguchi and Mrs. Yamaguchi blinked confusedly.

"What do you mean dear? We aren't at your home," Mrs. Yamaguchi said

". . . . what?"

"Were still in Italy working," Mr. Yamaguchi said

". . . . What?"

"We told Lotus, did she not tell you?" Mrs. Yamaguchi said

". . . . WHAT?!"

Violet stood up quickly knocking her chair over.

"Lotus is home alone on the holidays!" Violet screeched

"WHAT?!"

* * *

 ** _*RING RING RING*_**

"Wha...argh….."

A lump of soft blankets moved as a groaning noise emanated from underneath the plush bedding. A mop of pink hair poked out revealing the source of the noise to be Lotus.

With bleary eyes, Lotus peered around her room.

 _"Is….that the phone?"_

Lotus craned her neck checking her clock. _"It's 3 am…...must be some desperate telemarketer."_

The phone rang a few more times before finally stopping. With that over Lotus tucked herself back into her blankets hoping that sleep would quickly claim her. Her eyes had only been closed for a brief second before the phone started ringing again.

"Geeze…."

Lotus left the comfort of her blankets and with sluggish movements made her way to the house phone.

" ** _*YAWN*_** Hel-"

"Lotus!"

Lotus jumped dropping the phone.

"You're in big trouble, Missy. How dare you not tell Ethan and I that Mom and Dad weren't coming home. Do you have any idea how worried we are? Oh, my gosh I can't believe we just let you there! I'm a terrible sister….."

Lotus just stood there allowing Violet to continue her ranting. It was almost two hours later when Lotus was finally able to calm down her sister. Even after explaining her reason behind everything Violet was still adamant about catching the first flight out back to Japan.

"You can't just fly out. It New Years, your's and Ethan's tickets would cost a fortune. Rushing over to me isn't worth the cost," Lotus said

A heavy gasps filtered through the mic of the phone. "How could you say that! Lotus you're worth more than anything in this entire world!"

"You're over exaggerating," Lotus said

"I never over exaggerate!" Violet countered

 _"Suuure you don't."_

"Listen, Violet, this is the exact reason why I didn't tell you nor Ethan. I wanted you two to enjoy a nice holiday. I've been fine here, I had Sir Henry to keep me company. I want you and Ethan to stay there and enjoy your trip," Lotus said

"B-B-B-But….."

"How about this I promise to call you every morning and every night while your away, and the second I get lonely then you can hop on the next plane. Sounds good?" Lotus said

The other line was silent for a moment before Violet finally spoke.

"Lotus you really are a selfless girl you know that," Violet said

* * *

Since there was no chance of her going back to sleep Lotus started cooking a delicious New Year's morning breakfast.

"Alright, Sir Henry, for you two soft-boiled eggs with some fresh salmon. And for me fancy waffles with bacon. Also, let's not forget the New Years Tea Ethan's family mailed over."

Sir Henry was at the table, sitting on top of a stack of books, so he could actually reach his meal. Lotus was just getting the tea kettle off the stove when the doorbell rang.

"Who could that possibly be?" Lotus questioned

"I will go and investigate," Helios declared

Helios glided out the room. The guardian spirit as only gone for a split-second before he returned.

"It appears to be a courier with a package for you young Lotus," Helios said

 _"A delivery man? On New Years?"_

Lotus set down the cups before walking to the front door, Sir Henry trailing behind her. Using the peephole to take a peek outside Lotus confirmed that Helios was right. She opened the door and there was a delivery man holding a box and a large bouquet, jasmines and white carnations to be exact.

"Hello Mam Happy New Year," The Delivery Man greeted

"A Happy New Year to you too," Lotus replied

"A delivery for the Goddess Lotus." The man said handing the package and flowers over to Lotus.

 _"I've heard that line before….that means it's from…"_

Lotus broke out in a nervous sweat when she realized who these gifts were from.

The man bid Lotus goodbye left leaving behind a concerned teen.

Walking inside Lotus set the box down on the living room table. Sir Henry climbed up on the table and Helios hovered next to Lotus.

"Should I open it? Honestly, I'm nervous and a bit scared to find out what's inside."

"Do not fear my young descendant I will protect you," Helios said

 _"Well I don't think anything inside can harm me, it's more about how it's gonna creep me out. The last gift had a dress in my right size."_

Deciding her anxiety wouldn't dissipate unless she knew what was inside Lotus opened the box. What was inside? Well another box, or to be more precise a present.

A box about half the size of the one it was in, wrapped in white shimmering decorative paper with a gold bow on top.

 _"Man, even the wrapping paper and bow look expensive."_

Carefully opening the gift Lotus was finally able to see what was inside.

Lotus along with her other two companions in the room blanched at the contents of the gift.

 _"This is….yeah I don't know what to think of this."_

There were two things in the gift box, the first was a New Years kimono with matching shoes and hair piece accessories.

 _"If Ethan saw this he might implode then explode."_

The other thing in the box was a silver photo frame, with a photo already in it. The photo was of the guy who had sent it.

He was posed sitting in an empty field winking to the camera. Captioned at the bottom of the photo were the words, "With All My Love To My Pink Haired Goddess Angel."

"Goddess Angel? Yeah, no, return to sender."

"Agreed."

 _"~Agreed.~"_

* * *

Lotus opened her closet pulling out her outfit for the day. She got dressed in a red peacoat with a cinched waist the bottom designed to mimic a skirt. To keep her legs warm she pulled on some thigh high black stockings. She slipped on a pair of brown calf high boots and some leather gloves that matched the boots. To finish off the outfit Lotus placed a red beret on her head.

"Okay, Sir Henry all bundled up?" Lotus asked

The ferret was decked out in a cute little sweater, scarf, and a hat. All pieces of his mini outfit matching, of course.

 _"~Perfectly,~"_ Sir Henry replied

"Awesome I got the bag ready, let's get going." Lotus opened a pink bag, that had a blanket resting in the bottom, and Sir Henry hoped in. "Helios you ready to go too?"

"Affirmative young Lotus!"

"Alright let's go!"

* * *

All Saiki wanted was to spend a nice quiet New Years home, but for the psychic, it seemed like he was asking for too much. That's how he found himself at the shrine New Year's day with is two lovebird parents. To make things even worse somehow his parents had run into Kaidou, Nendou, Hairo, and Teruhashi. Kurumi being the pleasant friendly woman she was invited every one of them over.

Kurumi had been the most excited to meet the group since her New Year's wish had been for her son to make lots of friends.

Saiki was hoping he could have slipped away but with so many people around his chances of making a clean getaway was slim, also let's not forget the watchful eye of his mother.

Nendou didn't know how to properly make a wish at the shrine so Kuniharu took it upon himself to show Nendou how to properly pray at the shrine.

"Okay, first you give an offering." Kuniharu tossed a coin. "Then you ring the bell. After ringing the bell you bow twice. Then you clap your hands twice like this and pray like this."

 _"~I pray that Kusuo's new girlfriend doesn't dump him.~"_ Kuniharu thought

 _"Wait what did you just say!"_

His father might have the wrong idea about Saiki dating Lotus, but that doesn't mean he couldn't be offended.

 _"~Now that I know my son has a girlfriend, I really pray that he gets married and gives my wife and I lovely grandkids.~"_

Saiki blanched at his father. _"He wants what now?"_

"Then bow your head one last time," Kuniharu instructed Nendou

Now Saiki really wanted to go home.

 _"Poor Saiki."_

A voice filtered into Saiki's his head, the psychic instantly realizing who it was. Scanning the crowd Saiki spotted a red hat obscuring the pink hair beneath it.

Not too far was a snickering Lotus. She felt rather bad for the predicament Saiki was in, but it was also quite amusing.

 _"What are you doing here?"_

 _"It wouldn't be New Years if you didn't go to the shrine. I haven't been able to do this tradition in years."_

The two psychics conversed using their thoughts, not having to move from their current positions in order to hear one another.

 _"Looks like your the only one who didn't get their New Year's wish granted,"_ Lotus said

 _"Tell me about it."_

 _"I've got an idea. I could make a big scene and that could give you a chance to escape,"_ Lotus thought

 _"Too late my parents already invited them over."_

 _"You could come over to my house. No ones there, I'm sure you can hide out there for a while,"_ Lotus offered

 _"That could possibly work."_

 _"Then-"_

"Lotus dear is that you!"

 _"You've been spotted."_

Saiki was right, cause in a manner of seconds Lotus was face to face with Kurumi and Kuniharu.

"How lovely seeing you here," Kurumi greeted

"Come to make a wish at the shrine too?" Kuniharu asked

"Yeah. I don't get to come to these that often with my parents traveling so much," Lotus said

"Traveling?" Kuniharu questioned

"Yeah, my parents' work has them traveling on a regular basis. When my sister and I were younger we used to travel with them," Lotus explained

"Oh, you mentioned that before. If you don't mind me asking what do your parents do?" Kurumi queried

"Oh they're monster hunters," Lotus stated

Kurumi and Kuniharu stared blankly speechless.

 _"They're….what?"_

Lotus giggled at their expressions, she always got the same funny expressions when she told people that.

Lotus's laughter eased the tension. "This is the part where someone says just kidding, but I'm not. My parents are really monster hunters, to be more accurate my they're ancient Cryptozoologists. They travel around the world researching creatures that are thought to be myths. They just like to call themselves monster hunters for fun."

"Oh that sounds exciting," Kurumi said

"Yeah they love what they do," Lotus said

Lotus spent some time chatting with the Saiki's. Sometime during the conversation, Kurumi invited Lotus over to their house, and of course, the pink haired girl couldn't say no.

* * *

Lotus couldn't come over empty-handed so while everyone went directly to Saiki's house she went back home.

 _"Good thing I already planned on making this. All I had to do was put the finishing touches on it."_

Lotus packed up her dessert then got dressed back in her winter clothing. As she stepped outside she hustled over to the Saiki's house, the sun was setting so the temperature was dropping.

After ringing the bell the door was quickly answered by Kurumi.

"I brought some dessert. Cheesecake," Lotus stated holding up a box. "It's something my family and I have every New Years. I thought I'd bring it over to share with you all."

Kurumi took the box from the girl. "Such a sweet and lovely girl. I'm sure it's delicious. Now come in, come in, get out of that cold."

"Thank you." Lotus smiled stepping in inside taking off her winter wear.

"Everyone else is inside I'm sure they'll love some of your dessert too," Kurumi said

As Lotus entered everyone was gathered at the table chatting and eating. Well, all but Saiki. He was off to the side sitting in his own chair watching everyone.

"Wow, mashed chestnuts!" Nendou cheered

"Have some more," Kuniharu offered

"Pigging out rules!" Nendou dug in devouring his food.

 _"They've overrun my only sanctuary,"_ Saiki lamented

"This food is amazing would you please teach me sometime?" Teruhashi asked Kurumi.

"Oh, I'd love too. Speaking of cooking Lotus here brought over a lovely cheesecake," Kurumi said

"That's right made from scratch," Lotus spoke gesturing to the white box she had brought.

Teruhashi made silent gasps covering her shocked expression with the back of her hand. _"~My rival can cook!?~"_

 _"Again with the rival thing?"_

The box was set down on the table as Lotus took a seat at the end of the table. She opened the box revealing her decadent dessert.

"Wow, girl buddy that looks awesome!" Nendou complimented

"Looks great Lotus!" Hairo spoke

 _"~No way! I can't believe she made that! It looks like it came from some bakery or something! This can't be is my rival some kind of expert home chef!~"_

"Thanks, guys. I make this every New Years, and I think this might be one of the best ones. Glad it's not going to waste. But if I'm being completely honest if I wasn't sharing it with all of you I'd probably end up eating all myself," Lotus chuckled rubbing the back of her head.

Slices were handed out and no one wasted time tasting the confectionery.

"This is incredible! You're going to make a good wife one day," Kuniharu praised Lotus

Lotus's face turned red embarrassed by the compliment but then she felt a spine-tingling chill run up her back.

Teruhashi had given Lotus a sharp look that was mixed with loathing, disbelief, and shock. It was only brief but the pink haired girl caught it.

 _"~Wife? Wife?! Did Saiki's Dad just say my rival would be a perfect wife?! What about me!? I'm the perfect girl wouldn't I make the perfect wife.~"_ Teruhashi shook her head clearing away some thoughts. _"~No. He must already think that I'm a perfect wife but just didn't feel the need to say so since it's clearly obvious. Because he just said a general statement it's not like he said she'd be a perfect wife for Saiki or anything thing like that.~"_

 _"Thank god for that."_

Lotus really didn't need any more fuel added to the flames of her so-called one-sided "rivalry" with Tersuhasi.

 _"What a terrible way to start the year."_ Saiki got up walking out of the room.

"Thank you all of you. For being Ku's friend," Kurumi spoke expressing her gratitude.

"You don't have to thank us for being his friends. We're here because we wanna be," Hairo said

Kurumi gave a soft smile. "That's right you're sincere. I'm just so grateful for you-"

At that moment, unnoticed by all, Saiki paused in the doorway eyes widening and Lotus froze mid bite of her food, mimicking the same facial expression as Saiki.

"-my Ku's always had a really hard time making friends with him being a psychic and all."

The room went deadly silent, so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.

 _"Well...at least it's finally quiet."_

"Uhm….you may've just said too much," Kuniharu said

"Why?" Kurumi questioned the full gravity of her words not yet registering.

 _"Now would be a good time for divine intervention."_

"What do you mean by he's a psychic?" Teruhashi questioned

Lotus sat unmoving, not sure what to do in the current situation. She had no clue on how to help Saiki. At that moment all she could really do was watch helplessly as the group gaped at Saiki's parents.

Kurumi finally realized her little slip-up, and she froze with a smile on her lips but a worried look in her eyes.

"Honey you should say something," Kuniharu said

Kurumi gave a panicked awkward laugh, "Oh dear."

 _"Calm down there's nothing to panic over."_

 _"There's not? Because it's your secret she just told and even I'm panicking. My face may be calm but I'm seriously panicking,"_ Lotus thought to Saiki.

 _"Well here's an example if your friends' Mom had said that how would you react?"_

Lotus calmed her troubled thoughts thinking it over. _"Well, I'd probably laugh it off and not really take it seriously. Like when a parent brags about their kids saying they're a genius or can lift a million pounds."_

 _"That's right just look at their faces."_

Lotus looked over to the group. Teruhashi, Hairo, and Kaidou were making these awkward faces that were a mix between trying to give a polite smile and not cringing.

 _"My Mom says all kinds of crazy things. It's only if you panic that it sounds suspicious. All you need to do is calm down and change the subject."_

Kuniharu coughed into his hand loosening up the tension. "Hey, you know that one Manga logo? That pirate face on Shonen Jump."

"Yeah kinda, sure," Hairo said

"Get this if you turn it 90 degrees it looks like the profile of little girls face. I uh just thought I'd point that out," Kuniharu said

Once again those three made that strange face.

 _"How you gonna come back from this one pops?"_

 _"Yeah, I don't think that was a good change of subject."_

 _"He just made this party even more awkward."_

"Oh he's right it really does!" Nendou suddenly exclaimed

The Mohawk teen had a manga in his hand pointing out the logo.

"Guys look!" Nendou pointed out.

"I see it!" Teruhashi said

 _"Nendou….I'm somewhat grateful you successfully exchanged the subject."_

 _"I'm just wondering where the heck he got that Manga from?"_

"So my buddies a psychic huh?" Nendou said

 _"Get out!"_

"Did you know that female sunfish lay up to 300 hundred eggs each spawn," Kuniharu said

 _"You get out too!"_

 _"At this point, there's only one thing to do. A huge distraction!"_

Lotus quickly stood up from her seat. "Hey everyone!" She shouted causing everyone to turn their attention to her. "That cheesecake wasn't the only surprise I brought." She grabbed her bag opening it. "May I present Sir Henry!"

The group peered into the bag and a pair of black eye peered back.

"Whoa, a ferret I've never seen one of those before!"

"It's cute."

"Where you get him from?"

Lotus reached into the bag petting, Sir Henry. "I rescued him."

The tense air in the room finally lifted as everyone started talking about the animal.

 _"It's a good thing I brought my bag over. Sir Henry was so comfy I didn't take him out."_

 _"A good distraction but I think it might be too late."_

* * *

The night came to an end and the guest got ready to leave.

"Thank you for the meal!" Hairo said

"We're forever in your debt. Thanks," Kaidou said

"You can stop by anytime okay," Kurumi said waving the group off.

Hairo, Kaidou, Nendou, and Teruhashi left, when they were out of earshot Lotus spoke up.

"Soooo what are we going to do about your secret Saiki?" She asked

"Wait did you already know Kusuo was a psychic?" Kuniharu asked

Lotus nodded her head, "Yeah. Technically speaking I'm psychic too. Saiki's kind of like my supernatural tutor. I promised to keep his secret and also to keep my own powers a secret to help keep his secret."

"Isn't that sweet. You're even more suited for my son than I thought you were," Kurumi gushed

Lotus's cheeks flushed embarrassed.

 _"~Kusuo.~"_

Saiki turned his attention to his father who gave him a thumbs up.

 _"~Good job. I don't know how you did it, getting a cute nice girl who can cook and is a psychic, but good job.~"_ Kuniharu thought giving his son a thumbs up.

Saiki frowned, or was that just his normal expression?

Like he did most of the time, Saiki ignored his father as he grabbed his coat.

 _"Come on Lotus let's go."_

"Where are we going?" Lotus questioned grabbing her coat too.

 _"I'm about to give you a psychic crash course lesson. Today's subject rewriting someone's memories."_

"Wait you can do that?!"

* * *

Saiki teleported himself and Lotus to the group. The two hid behind a light post observing and unfortunately, Saiki had been right. The damage had already been done and the group was conversing about Saiki being psychic.

The group reached a four-way intersection and split up going different directions home.

 _"So what do we do now Saiki?"_

 _"Well nobody really believes I'm a psychic which is good, but thanks to my Mom's big mouth the idea's been planted in their heads."_

 _"And from that single seed of thought, something can sprout and before you know it that single thought has bloomed into a full-blown tree."_

 _"Exactly."_ Saiki started to follow Nendou with Lotus right next to him. _"It hurts my conscious to think about what I have to do but there's no other way."_

Something appeared in Saiki's hand causing Lotus to raise a brow.

 _"Isn't that thing that mascot from television?"_ Lotus questioned

Saiki nodded his head before he raised his arm and stuck Nendou in the head. Before Lotus could get out her shocked cry Saiki teleported the two into a nearby tree.

Nendou was fine albeit a bit dazed, walking back home as if nothing had happened.

 _"Things should start going back to normal soon."_

"What heck did you just did to him?"

 _"I erased part of his memory. A very tiny part. Just the keyword psychic."_

"How you do that?"

 _"I channel my psychic energy through this object. I can only erase up to one minute of memory."_

"Ooooh. So that's why you couldn't erase my memories when I first found out about you being psychic. It'd been too long so there'd be too much information for you to erase. Erasing a fleeting moment, no big deal, but erasing a whole day who knows what could happen," Lotus concluded

 _"Yeah, that's right. But there's also the biggest drawback to this ability."_ Saiki said

 _"Drawback?"_

* * *

Lotus walked with Saiki to school. Lotus had been anticipating what the day held. She fully believed that Saiki had erased the idea that the others thought he could be psychic but what was this drawback he was talking about.

"Hey!" Kaidou walked next to the two. "Back to spending our days at this boring school huh?"

Saiki ignored Kaidou and continued walking.

 _"~He's probably still embarrassed about how awkward dinner ended at his house. I never would've expected….~"_

Kaidou thoughts drifted off to the dinner, the moment Kurumi blurted Saiki's secret.

 _"~Ku has a hard time making friends because he fantasizes about being a hero.~"_

 _"Wha…..? What the heck?"_ Lotus questioned

 _"~Ignorant idiots often accuse me of the same problem. I know exactly how it feels. So don't you worry I support you as someone who shares your same pain can.~"_

"Saiki!" Kaidou called out. He made a weird hand sign as the pink haired boy turned around. "This is our friendship sign cool. Never forget it."

 _"Don't worry can't forget what you can't remember."_

 _"I….am so confused right now? Kaidou's memory of that moment is all warped."_

 _"It's the drawback I was talking about. When I erase a memory a blank space appears and when that happens the brain's natural mechanism kicks in and fills that void with a different memory."_

 _"Ah, I understand. It's kind of like how people do the same things but their memories vary on the subject depending on the person. So Kaidou's new memory is sort of a reflection of himself too. That would mean everyone's memory of last night will be different."_

 _"Right."_

 _"~Oh it's Saiki.~"_ Teruhashi thought as she entered the school. _"~I haven't seen him since New Year's day. It was very surprising to hear what his mom said about him. 'Ku's always had a hard time making friends because he doesn't trust people.' He has trust issues.~"_

 _"Huh? You know I thought Teruhashi's false memory would be a bit different and more self-centered."_

 _"~I bet he liked a girl once who broke his heart. I bet that's why he never says oh wow around me. Don't worry Saiki this goddess will melt your frozen heart.~"_ Teruhashi thought giving a giddy giggle

 _"Oh, nope, never mind there it is."_

 _"Sometimes with the replaced memories things turn out good but in Teruhashi's case bad."_

 _"Yeah, now she's even more fired up to get you to say Oh wow about her."_

"Hey, Saiki!" Hairo appeared in the hallway. He wasn't able to speak with Saiki as the psychic kept walking.

 _"~You can't blame him for being cold. If something like that happened to me I'd be messed up too. 'Ku used to be captain of the tennis team, but he was super competitive and obsessed with winning. But the others weren't as into it as he was. So they quit. That's why he has such a hard time keeping friends.~'"_

 ** _"That a long replacement story."_**

"Whoo!"

Nendou suddenly appeared. From where? Who knows. He slid next to Saiki and started dancing on the boy.

 _"Nendou…..I don't know what his replacement memory is and I don't wanna know. Somehow he's ended up more attached to me than before."_

The peanut gallery gathered in the hall all of their sights set on Saiki.

"Kusuo wanna come whack some tennis balls?" Hairo asked

"Saiki, do you sense a disturbance in this hall?" Kaidou asked

"Ku," Teruhashi giggled, "I sound like you Mom."

 _"So there is a god….he just hates me."_

 _"Well Saiki I don't know if it'll make you feel better but I like you,"_ Lotus said

Saiki's brain paused and for some reason those simple words caused a strange sensation to briefly wash over his being. _"What?"_

 _"I said I like you. We are friends after all."_

Saiki subtly nodded his head adjusting his glasses.

Yes, they were friends. So why did her previous sentence have such impact on him?


	29. The Ever Intimidating Mr Matsuzaki

_**hoopsandyoyo42 -** _I don't have a plan for Lotus transforming into a male version, but I do have something relating to that. It's going to be a surprising chapter, if anyone were to guess it I'd be super surprised. That won't happen though until much later into the story.

 _ **amyc2003 -**_ I've got a little idea about what to do with her but nothing solidified yet.

 ** _foxchick1 -_** I have that first interaction all planned out! She'll meet Kusuke on her own.

* * *

 _This is Lotus_

 _This is Saiki_

 ** _This is Lotus and Saiki_**

~ _This is the thoughts of others~_

* * *

 **The Ever Intimidating Mr. Matsuzaki - The Real Man Behind All That Yelling!**

Lotus entered her home, as she slipped off her shoes she announced her arrival.

"Hey, guys I'm-?"

Lotus was taken back as she didn't see Violet nor Ethan in the living room, but rather a complete stranger. He appeared to be around Ethan's ages with long blonde hair that was pulled up into a ponytail. He had blue eyes and his features suggested he was the European regions. His outfit could best be described as business casual.

He looked like a nice man but he was still a stranger in her home.

"Uh….." Lotus opened her mouth but closed it not sure what to say.

 _"Who the heck is this guy?"_

 _"~It's Lotus.~"_ The man thought

 _"Why does he know me?"_

"Lotus welcome home!" Ethan greeted entering the room.

In his hands was a tray of tea and snacks.

"Hey, Ethan," Lotus greeted as she glanced at the foreign man in the room.

"Oh! You probably don't know this guy, but he knows a lot about you," Ethan chuckled

 _"That sounds unsettling."_

"Lotus this is my friend Joshua he's like one of my best friends. We met in middle school. He's American but came to my school apart of a foreign exchange program and we graduated together. He's in town for business and decided to pop by for a visit," Ethan explained

 _"That's nice you're keeping in touch with an old friend, but why did you say he knows a lot about me?"_

"Joshua I'm sure you know Lotus-"

"Of course I do!" Joshua interrupted with a broad bright smile. "You mention her and Violet every chance you get." He looked to Lotus chuckling, "I don't think I've ever heard a guy brag about his girls so much."

 _"Ahhh….so it Ethan's fault."_

Lotus gave a small bow to Joshua. "It's nice to meet you, Joshua."

Joshua gave a delightful laugh, "It's nice to meet you too!" He looked at Ethan. "Ethan, Lotus is actually one of the reasons why I'm here."

 _"What?"_

"What?!" Ethan screeched

Before she even knew it Ethan had wrapped the girl in choking hug.

"You've come to steal my precious little Lotus, you fiend!" Ethan accused

 _"Weren't you just saying he was one of your closest friends?"_

Joshua gave an awkward chuckle waving his hands in a surrender motion.

"No! No! I don't know what you're thinking-"

 _"Trust me you don't."_

"-but I don't mean it in that way," Joshua said

Lotus managed to pull herself away from Ethan's death grip taking a seat across from Joshua. Ethan sat next to the girl poised like an animal about to attack.

"You see I am here on business, I'm Manga artist and producer for some shows and films," Joshua said

"Impressive," Lotus said

"Thank you. I've been working on this new Manga and I wanted to ask Lotus's permission to publish it," Joshua said

"My persimmon?" Lotus questions

"Here let me show you." Joshua dug into a briefcase pulling out some paper. "Here take a look."

Lotus took the paper's as she and Ethan looked them over.

"Huh?!" The two gasped

The artwork was spectacular, very detailed, and expressive but that's not what caused the two to gasp.

 _"Is that me?!"_

The Manga featured Lotus as some kind of superhero. She was wearing an all black sleeveless leotard with a diamond shape cut out in the stomach giving just brief view of her stomach along with a pink heart-shaped breastplate was situated over her chest. White elbow-length gloves were on her arms and her legs were clad in thigh-high white boots. Her manga-self was posed holding a sword over her shoulder, her other hand on hip. The character was also wearing a white domino mask over her eye's but Lotus and Ethan could still tell it was indeed Lotus.

"Heart Warrior: Love Line," Lotus read the title

Lotus and Ethan confusedly looked back at Joshua.

"I know this may seem odd, but I was inspired after all the stories and pictures Ethan had shown me of Lotus. I was stuck in a writer's block at the time and I wanted to create a character that was both feminine but strong. I thought Lotus fit the bill," Joshua explained

 _"So….once again it's Ethan's fault."_

"It's one of my best works yet and everyone who I've shown it too loves it as well." Joshua clasped his hands together in a begging motion. "Please allow me to publish this manga!"

"It's Lotus's decision, I mean it's her face you're using," Ethan said

Lotus studied the Manga again thinking on the matter.

 _"It is really impressive artwork, you can tell he worked really hard and he did ask. It's not like I'm not used to stuff like this with Ethan using me in his work."_

Lotus set down the Manga giving Joshua a smile, "Alright!" she agreed

"Really? Thank you so much! I'll make sure to keep you updated on everything!" Joshua said

At that moment Sir Henry showed up scampering over to the couch. He hopped up climbing onto Lotus's lap.

"Wow, a ferret, I've only seen these things in exotic pet store windows. Who's this little guy?" Joshua asked

"Sir Henry," Lotus answered petting her furry companions head.

"Lotus braved the treacherous streets within the dark underbelly of the city to rescue him!" Ethan exclaimed

 _"Talk about over exaggerating. I often wonder what goes on in that crazy mind of yours and then I realize I can read it."_

Ethan proceeded to tell Joshua the story and at some point, the artist had pulled out a pen and paper, speedily writing as he took notes.

"Inspiring, I think I've got an idea for a new story arc," Joshua said

 _"I wonder how this is all gonna pan out? Wait…..did Ethan tell him about my powers?!"_

* * *

The next day came and that meant more school for Lotus.

"Yamaguchi!"

"AH!"

Lotus jumped startled as her name was called in a gruff booming voice. Turning around she was met the scowling face of Matsuzaki.

 _"Why is he looking at me like that? Did I do something wrong?"_

Matsuzaki held up a stack of papers, "I need a trustworthy student to deliver these flyers to the third year teachers."

 _"Oh, that's all. Then what's with the intense look? Talk about words not matching up with someone's face."_

* * *

After completing her task Lotus went to class, taking her normal seat next to Saiki. He gave the girl a silent subtle nod in greeting, his eyes briefly glancing at the necklace she proudly wore.

Students were chatting and gossiping but a group surrounding Takahashi was rather boisterous this morning.

"Whoa, you actually got a Gori-rabbitz Strap? I heard they were sold out everywhere."

"Let me see!"

It was odd that the keychain was so popular, it was a gorilla with a rabbits head. A strange combination that many questioned, yet the things were flying off the shelves.

"Really they're that popular?" Takahashi said

"You bought it without knowing? It's the hottest thing out there right now!"

Takahashi gave a small smug grin. "I guess my instincts are just naturally cool."

 _"How can no one notice he's just playing it cool?"_ Lotus thought looking at Takahashi's smug face.

 _"~Of course I knew it was. But this just makes the six hours I stood in line totally worth it!~"_ Takahashi thought

 _"Yup called it."_

"Ooo can I see it too?" Chiyo asked

She held her hand out as the key chain was being passed to her. But before the keychain could be given to her a hand appeared crushing the figure with a loud crunch.

"AH!"

Takahashi's face was nothing but other shock and dismay at the quick destruction of his valued keychain.

"Mr. Matsuzaki!" Chiyo exclaimed

"You can't have this here! I'm confiscating it."

Matsuzaki held up the figure, it's head broken from its body due to the teachers rough handling.

Takahashi collapsed to his knees. "I waited in line for six hours for that stupid thing."

"Six hours?"

"You knew it was popular!"

Matsuzaki turned away from the groveling Takahashi to another student.

"You there what's that!"

"Huh? A video game?"

"And you what's that!"

"An automatic mahjong table."

 _"How'd she carry that thing in by herself?"_

"I'm confiscating it! And you what's that!"

"Shawarma?"

 _"What in the?! He brought the whole rotisserie machine!"_

"Confiscated! Don't bring things to school that you don't need!"

 _"Mr. Matsuzaki the chief P.E. Teacher and Disciplinary."_

Matsuzaki gathered everything that he was confiscating using just one arm to carry it all.

 _"Whoa! I didn't know he was that strong!"_

"Listen school is for schooling!" Matsuzaki scolded

 _"Most people fear him-"_

The moment the teacher left the students started making faces in the direction he left.

 _"-and hate him just as equally."_ Lotus finished

"Whoa that Matusdummy is a jerk," Nendou said

 _"I don't think he's so bad,"_ Saiki said

Lotus nodded her head, _"I agree. He's got good intentions just a bit loud and intimidating."_

Matsuzaki appeared back in the classroom doorway pointing at Nendou.

"Nendou don't bully Saiki!"

"What!?"

Lotus covered her mouth hiding her laughter.

 _"For a solitary kid like me, he's a dependable ally."_

 _"Knight Matsuzaki coming to defend Saiki,"_ Lotus giggled

 _"Please don't ever word it like that again."_

 _"Of course, anyone knows that in your life I'm your knight in shining armor!"_ Lotus joked

Saiki rolled his eyes but did not voice any rejection to her words.

Lotus smiled even more, her relationship with Saiki has improved so much. He actually called her his friend and gave her a gift too, that only solidified their friendship, it also gave Lotus physical proof. She would sometimes catch herself messing with the jeweled orb and it made her smile every time.

Lotus gave Saiki a smile, and he turned away adjusting his glasses, that odd feeling he had recently been experiencing coming over him again. It had been happening more frequently, and he knew Lotus was the cause of it, but it didn't make him feel bad, in fact, it was a nice feeling.

* * *

Lunch period came and the two psychics were making their way to the school roof. It was the best place to have a quiet lunch. As the two rounded a corner going for the stairs an angry voice filtered into the nearly empty hallway.

"Mr. Matsuzaki really ticks me off!"

"Isn't that Takahashi?" Lotus questions

 _"What? Again?"_ Saiki said

Takahashi and two other boys were hanging out on the staircase talking, rather loudly too.

"How can he just take my Gori-rabbitz?" Takahashi groaned

"Wish we could get back at him! That Jerky-Nosy-Yucky-Pervy-Vain-SuperMaso-Matsu!"

"Huh?" Lotus thought sweat dropping at the long-winded insulting name.

"Well get him for this! That Jerky-Nosy-Yucky-Pervy-Vain-SuperMaso-Matsu!"

 _"Is that a magician incantation?"_

 _"Yeah what in the world are they trying to summon here?"_

"Hey let's make him pay!"

"But how?" Takahashi pondered aloud.

"Hey, I just thought of something. A good way to mess with Jerky-Nosy-Yucky-Pervy-Vain-SuperMaso-Matsu."

 ** _"Oh boy."_**

* * *

Lotus and Saiki followed the three guys all the way to Matsuzaki's office. The two spied on the trio, while the trio spied on Matsuzaki.

The teacher was working on something at his desk, but they couldn't see what it was, but whatever he was doing was frustrating the man. After some time Matsuzaki stopped getting up from his desk.

"Ah, he's coming this way!"

The three boys hid as Matsuzaki left the office heading home.

"Okay let's follow him!"

"You really think this is gonna work?" Takahashi asked

"Of course."

Following Matsuzaki down to the front of the school they observed as he opened his locker gathering his stuff when a pink letter fell out. The man gasped picking up the note.

"After all he's Matsupervy!"

"Where are they getting this perv part from? Matsuzaki hasn't done anything like that, in fact, those three knuckleheads are the definition of pervs."

"Look at that creep he can't even move!" Takahashi jeered

"Probably to overcome with joy."

Matsuzaki moved running straight for the men's room.

"He's running to the bathroom! Probably one heck of a letter you wrote!"

Takahashi gave a thumbs up. "Oh yeah! I nailed it."

 _"He didn't."_

 _"Talk about cringe-worthy."_

Takahashi went over what he wrote and by the end bot of his friends were sporting blenching expressions.

"That's creepy."

"What?!"

"Would you meet a girl after school if she wrote that? Wait if he does show up after school then he's pervier than we thought!"

* * *

"Ahhhhh!"

And of course, the boys were surprised when Matsuzaki was there behind the school waiting. They watched the teacher from above in one of the school's balconies.

"I can't believe that worked!"

"How desperate do you have to be?"

"Hahahaha!"

Without them knowing Lotus and Saiki were observing as well right from the balcony just above the three stooges.

 _"Now what do we do? Mr. Matsuzaki has been alright to me time to time."_

 _"Yeah, he's one of this school's most hardworking teachers. Should we tell him what those three imbeciles are up to?"_

 _"We could just spit on them from up here,"_ Saiki suggested

"Pffffttt!" Lotus covered her mouth choking on her laughter. _"Saiki your the best you know that?"_

Using the simple psychic talent of mind reading the two picked up Matsuzaki's thoughts.

 _"Ah, so that's why he's waiting."_

 _"Ha! I was right he's not a perv!"_

* * *

The sun had set and Matsuzaki still hadn't moved from his spot behind the school, neither had Takahashi and his two accomplices.

"He's been waiting for 2 hours!"

"Man what a pathetic sight. Let's get out of here."

"Shh, he's gonna hear us!"

"You're finally here," Matsuzaki spoke

The three boys froze before quickly diving into a nearby bush. But Matsuzaki wasn't talking to them but rather the cute pink haired girl who had shown up.

Nope, it wasn't Lotus, she was still watching from the balcony. So who was this new pink haired girl?

 **A few minutes earlier**

Lotus and Saiki had been discussing the various things they could do for Matsuzaki's situation. After quite the discussion Saiki came up with a plan.

 _"There's only one route we can take,"_ Saiki said

Saiki glowed for a second then his form started to change. Pink hair got lighter, cheeks became rounder, and curves developed.

"Sai-ki?" Lotus questioned tilting her head.

In Saiki's place was a girl looking distinctly like Saiki with pink hair the same shade as Lotus's.

 _"Let's go I want to get this over with."_

"O-kay?"

A confused Lotus trialed behind the female Saiki, the whole experience was even odder as she still heard his male voice filtering through her head.

"What do I call you? Oh, wait let me name the girl you!" Lotus exclaimed

 _"Fine,"_ Saiki said

"I hereby dub you Kusuko Saiki. Lovely name for a lovely girl right?" Lotus smiled

Saiki doesn't say anything turning from Lotus walking away, but for some reason, a sudden warmth was added to his face.

"Oh wait, Saiki! There's one more thing we need to do beforehand."

 **Present**

So it wasn't Lotus but the one and only Kusuko Saiki meeting Matsuzaki.

"So are you the one who wrote me that letter?" Matsuzaki asked

Kusuko nodded her head.

"What no way!?" All three boys said

"What's going on and why is that super cute girl here?"

"How should I know?"

"I don't know you are you a first year? Anyway, I'm sorry I can't recuperate your feelings. I'm a teacher and your a student," Matsuzaki said

"What?!"

"I've been waiting here for hours to tell you that. At first, I assumed your letter was a juvenile prank but if there was even a chance it was real I didn't want to ignore it in fear of hurting a young woman's feelings," Matsuzaki said

 _"Getting rejected by a middle-aged man awesome."_ Saiki sarcastically thought

 _"At least these jerks finally know what Matsuzaki was really up to,"_ Lotus smirked lifting her hand.

Using her powers she ruffled the bushes the boys had been hiding in.

"Gah! Quit making noise!"

"It wasn't me!"

"Huh?" Matsuzaki turned to the bushes. "Hey what are you kids doing."

Since they had been caught the three immediately come out of their hiding spot.

"Nothing!"

"You kids should have been home hours ago!" Matsuzaki said

"I'm so sorry!"

The boys started to leave but Matsuzaki stopped Takahashi.

Walking over to the boy he pulled something out of his pocket.

"Here."

"Whoa, it's my Gori-rabbitz!" Takahashi said

The keychain looked as good as new like it'd never been broken in the first place.

"I'm sorry I broke it. I stitched it back together. Alright, get out of here." Matsuzaki said

"Mr. Matsuzaki! We're sorry for breaking the rule's sir!" The boys apologize bowing to the teacher.

Matsuzaki accepted the apology dismissing the three. As they left their opinions on Kusuko filtered through Lotus and Saiki's minds.

 _"What a pain."_

 _"~Who was that girl?~"_

 _"~She was cute.~"_

 _"~I have such a crush.~"_

 _"And now I've just created another problem for myself."_

"Ah don't be down Saiki!" Lotus threw an arm over Saiki's shoulder pulling the boy closer to her. "Boy or girl I'll be your shield to help block all your troubles."

Saiki readjusted his glasses the warmth from earlier returning to his face. This seemed to be happening a lot with Lotus around.

 _"How'd you fix that keychain anyway?"_ Saiki asked

Lotus was getting better with her powers, but she wasn't that good yet.

"Oh, I didn't fix it or anything like that, I just used my powers to swap the broken one with a new one," Lotus held up the broken one. "Matsuzaki worked so hard fixing this one I thought I'd give him a little help for his hard work. You know with these Psychic powers I could become a great pickpocketer," Lotus joked

 _"Don't use your powers for crime, especially petty crime,"_ Saiki said

Lotus laughed enjoying the banter she had with Saiki.

 _"How'd you get a new keychain?"_ Saiki questioned

"Oh, Ethan helped work on the promotional mascot costume for the event where they handed out the keychains. So, in turn, they gave him like a bunch of them." Lotus held up three more of the so-called super exclusive popular keychains. "Want one?" She offered

 _"No thanks."_


	30. Chocolate Festival!

**Dracus6 -** Thanks to you, that story is now in the works. Don't know when I'll post it but it will be made.

* * *

 _This is Lotus_

 _This is Saiki_

 _~This is the thoughts of others~_

* * *

 **Chocolate Festival - Who Will Receive the Sweet Treat?**

Lotus rolled up her sleeves a determined smile on her face.

"Alright time to get to work."

Grabbing her favorite pink apron Lotus threw it on before tying her hair up in a high ponytail. Scattered across the kitchen counter was a sundry of ingredients ready to be crafted into delicious confectioneries.

"I can't wait, my first Valentine's in Japan."

* * *

Lotus had transferred a psychic message to Saiki informing him that she would be running a bit behind and to go on to school ahead of her. He was not okay with that, why? Because that gave Reita the opportunity to slip into Lotus's usual walking spot beside Saiki. So instead of walking with Lotus, having a psychic discussion on different ways to figure out how to enjoy movies without them being spoiled, he was with Reita, whose mind was only on one thing.

"Excited it's finally here!" Reita had flushed cheeks as he elbowed Saiki.

 _"What's finally here?"_

"Come on you don't have to read minds just a calendar. It's February 14th," Reita said

 _"Wait who are you again?"_

"I'm sure I'll find a pile of that brown stuff waiting for me on my desk," Reita grinned

 _"Pile of brown stuff? Gross."_

"I wonder how many girls plan to give me some of that sweet Valentine's Day chocolate?" Reita said

 _"Oh that, really not interested."_

"A box of chocolates could change your entire future. No exaggeration." Reita said

 _"You are exaggerating."_

"That's why I've been doing nice stuff for girls lately. Like carrying their things-" Reita said

 _"They don't want your help."_

"-flattering them-"

 _"That's sexual harassment."_

"-and even getting them cool presents!"

 _"Too pushy."_

"Man I did everything possible to get the chicks of this school to like me and it must've worked because now they all notice me when I walk by in the halls," Reita said

What he really didn't know is that they were thoroughly creeped out and only noticed him to avoid him.

 _"You're so screwed."_

Reita stopped walking facing Saiki. "Come on please use your psychic powers to tell me if I'm gonna get a lot of chocolates."

 _"Alright fine."_ Saiki put his arms up making an O.

Reita cheered a large smile coming to his face.

 _"He thought I was making an O as in okay, but I was making a zero."_

"And what about Lotus huh? Every guy would be jealous if I get chocolates from the lovely buxom beauty of the school." Reita said

 _"No way perv."_

To make this clear Saiki crossed his arms in an X telling him no.

 _"Even if she did have chocolates for you any girl would take them back hearing you call them buxom."_

For some reason, Saiki felt really irritated by Reita's statement. Then he thought about Lotus. Was she planning on giving chocolates to others? That thought stayed in Saiki's head all the way to school.

* * *

Saiki sat at his desk as girls skirted around the room handing out various boxes of chocolates. Hario had been very popular getting dozens of boxes from grateful girls for all his hard work and help. Lotus had yet to arrive and Saiki's mind kept thinking about her.

 _"She's normally on time. What could be the holdup?"_

His thoughts wandered thinking she might be in a different part of school giving some chocolate to another guy from a different class. He quickly waved the annoying thought away.

"Whooo made it!"

The classroom door opened and there was Lotus. Obviously, she had her school uniform on but accessorizing the outfit was a light pink scarf with darker pink hearts decorating it. Saiki's eyes immediately zeroed in on the bag that was in her hand.

 _"Morning Saiki,"_ Lotus greeted taking her seat.

She set the bag on her desk and Saiki was able to see that it was indeed a bag full of boxes distinctly designed for chocolates.

 _"So she did make chocolate."_

 _"Hey what's up with Kaidou?"_ Lotus pointed at the boy before her who was spazzing out at his desk.

 _"He got chocolate and is now freaking out."_

 _"Ah, I see."_

Kaidou suddenly grabbed the chocolate that was in his desk and ran out.

 _"Huh? That was odd, but not beyond Kaidou odd."_

Lotus looked to Saiki. _"So how's your February 14th going? Get any chocolates?"_

 _"I'm pretty sure you know the answer to that."_

 _"You do keep a low profile and steer clear of others so it'd be hard to give chocolates to a guy you don't notice,"_ Lotus said

 _"Exactly. I see you have a bag of chocolates,"_ Saiki nodded to the bag on Lotus's desk.

Lotus smiled, _"Yup, spent all day yesterday making them. It wasn't my first time making chocolate but it was my first time making Valentine's chocolates. My sister and Ethan tried some and said they were pretty good. I just hope the recipients think so too."_

Saiki sighed waiting for Lotus to hand over chocolate hoping she does so discreetly enough that other guys in the class wouldn't notice. But much to his surprise Lotus simply faced forward in her desk getting herself ready for classes.

Saiki was beyond perplexed. With all the chocolate she made it was only logical to think she'd give him some, right? Right? Lotus definitely seemed like the kind of person who'd hand out chocolates to friends and people she was close to and with her established friendship with Saiki that meant he fell into that category, in fact, he was the one she spent the most of her free time with. So why was she not reaching into the bag to silently slide over a box of chocolate to him?

Saiki was not only confused but irritated that it bothered him so much.

A few minutes later Kaidou came back and went to a corner of the room sulking. Nendou came over pointing and laughing at the silver-haired boy.

"Hahaha! You fell for it, dude! You'll get chocolate from Teruhashi when pigs fly!"

 _"There're some lines you just don't cross Nendou."_

 _"Man, that was cruel."_

"Aww, what's wrong with you?" Nendou spoke in a baby voice. "You don't need to be depressed just because you didn't get any candy. Gonna be hard to believe but I didn't get any either, so we're in this together."

 _"Kaidou's life is at zero."_

"Pardon me!" A rather cute girl called out addressing Nendou. "Can you come with me for a second? There's something I want to give you!"

A huge smile broke out on Nendou's face. "I'd love to!"

"No not you, Nendou. I was actually talking to Kaidou."

Kaidou followed the girl out the classroom but not before giving Nendou a smug grin.

"Ahhhhh!"

Now it was Nendou's turn to sulk in the corner.

 _"There's some line you just don't cross Kaidou."_

 _"What in the?"_

Saiki looked to Lotus to see her pull several bags of chocolates out of her desk.

"Well, this was a bit unexpected," Lotus said

 _"Not to me. She doesn't know this, or simply chooses to ignore it, but Lotus has got a fan club consisting of both male and female students of this school."_

Lotus got up from her desk grabbing her bag. She walked over to the sulking Nendou.

"Alright, Nendou. I think you've learned your lesson, no more pouting."

She reached into her bag pulling out a green box with a yellow ribbon.

"Here you go," Lotus said handing the box over to Nendou.

The boy was practically in tears as he took the box.

"Friendship chocolates," Lotus said

"Alright!" Nendou cheered

Lotus turned facing Saiki. Now was the time. Lotus was going to hand him his chocolates. He waited patiently for the girl to reach in her bag and pass over the chocolates but instead, she walked right by him.

"Now I best be off. Gotta go hand the rest of these out. Catch ya guys later!" Lotus smiled before leaving.

Saiki's face was blank wondering what just happened.

* * *

During her chocolate handing out venture Lotus had been given her own boxes of chocolates from various other girls she had helped out, but a select few were from admirers. As Lotus walked around the school she had to make use of her psychic powers to avoid a handful of guys whose thoughts were less than pure.

 _"I don't get why some random guys would think I'd give them chocolate. Why would I give chocolate to a person I don't even know?"_

Lotus located Kitaro handing him his chocolate, and he even gave her some too. The two had been discussing recipes a few days beforehand since Kitaro wanted to make some chocolate for his mother and siblings. As thanks, he gifted the rest to Lotus.

Lotus was still contemplating on giving Reita his. Yes, he was a pervert but still sort of Lotus's friend, but she also didn't want to encourage his perverse thoughts. Maybe she'll just sneak it into his locker.

Before she made her way back to class Lotus took a short pit stop as the bathroom. As she was in one of the stalls the door to the bathroom was quickly opened before being slammed shut.

 _"~To hell with Valentine's Day!~"_

 _"Teruhashi?"_ Lotus thought. _"And by the sound of all the voices crowding outside the bathroom seems like the girl was mobbed."_

Teruhashi walked further into the bathroom her thoughts ringing loud and clear.

 _"~They say I've got chocolates. So what if I do? I'll just give this to Saiki.~"_

 _"Saiki huh? I wonder if he'd take chocolate from Teruhashi. It'd sure draw in a lot of attention."_

 _"~Obviously these are just gratitude chocolates because I had dinner at his house on New Years. So really they're for him and his parents.~"_

 _"Whose she making excuses for?"_

 _"~But these are the only chocolates I bought today. What if those guys out there find out I gave them to Saiki? They'll tear him apart!~"_

 _"Yeah no. It's Saiki would destroy **them**."_

 _"~No! Worse than that World War 3 will break out!~"_

 _"Okay, aren't you going a little too far with that scenario?"_

Teruhashi ran over to the window opening it. _"~It turns out my chocolates are the most dangerous weapon in the history of mankind.~"_

 _"Yup definitely taking that scenario too far."_

 _"~I can't give this to him. I'm sorry Saiki.~"_ Teruhashi tossed the chocolates outside the window.

Unbeknownst to her, but known to Lotus, Saiki was just a few floors down. He held his hand out catching the chocolates.

 _"That's a little dramatic."_

 _"Tell me about it. Now that's enough bathroom stall hiding, I gotta get to class. Maybe if I'm stealthy enough Teruhashi won't notice me."_

Lotus quietly opened the stall door peeking out. Teruhashi was draped over the window's edge looking as if she just dropped a puppy out of it rather than a box of chocolate.

Lotus quick-footed made her way to the sinks hoping to just quickly wash her hands and leave. Unfortunately, the sound of running water pulled Teruhashi out of her little dramatic reverie.

 _"~Rival!~"_

 _"Crap!"_

"Oh hey there Teruhashi," Lotus awkwardly greeted

"Hello," Teruhashi greeted back with a smile. She studied Lotus noticing the girl had two bags with her.

 _"~In her hands it must be chocolates! Who'd she give them out to? Don't tell she made some for Saiki, not like I really care or anything.~"_

"I see you've got some chocolates there?" Teruhashi pointed out.

"Yeah, I just made some for my friends and some people I wanted to thank," Lotus gestured to the bag in her left hand.

 _"~Homemade!? Everyone knows the most delectable chocolates come from a person who made them with their own hands. Is her goal to show off her amazing culinary skills to the rest of the school, so that they'll see her as the perfect girl!~"_

 _"That's not it at all."_

Teruhashi held back her emotions but it didn't matter as Lotus could hear the girls thoughts.

"Oh how nice to make chocolates. But what about the other bag?" Teruhashi questions pointing to the bag in Lotus's right hand.

Lotus paused not wanting to really answer the question fearing the ramifications of it, but it would seem suspicious if she didn't answer Teruhashi's question.

"These are just chocolates others have given to me, nothing special," Lotus said trying to downplay the whole thing.

 _"~What!? She got chocolate!? How is this possible!? I didn't even get chocolate! My rival bested me without me even knowing! No, that can't be right. I bet others are just too blinded by my radiance to hand me chocolate if they step to close I bet they get nervous and can't hand over any chocolate to me…..~"_

Teruhashi continued to rant in her mind and Lotus could tell this isn't going to go good for her due to the twitching smile Teruhashi was developing.

"Well look at the time," Lotus checked her wrist as if she had a watch, "Gotta get going to class. Bye!"

She ran out of the bathroom so fast the guys who had been crowding it only saw a pink blur.

* * *

The end of school came and Lotus was glad.

 _"Man who knew Valentine's day could be this exhausting. It's nothing like this in the States or the UK."_

She went to the front of the school going to meet up with Saiki so they could walk home together. Saiki was waiting for Lotus but was having his own little inner uproar in his head. Lotus had handed out chocolate to Nendou, Kaidou, Hairo, and Kitaro, but not him.

 _"Why didn't she give me anything? It's weird that she would give something to Nendou and Kaidou."_

This kept playing in his head over and over again. Why was this bothering him so much?

"Saiki! Saiki!"

Saiki turned around to see Lotus coming towards him carrying her now empty bag that used to have chocolate. But she did have a new bag filled with more chocolate. Saiki held back a frown staring intently at Lotus's empty bag that was once filled with delicious desserts.

"Planning on walking home without me?" Lotus jokes

Saiki kept silent just staring at Lotus.

"Well if you want some alone time I can leave you to it but not without giving you your gift," Lotus said

 _"Gift?"_

Lotus started digging through her school bag rather than her chocolate bag. She pulled out a pink box with a green bow.

"Ta-da! As they say, leave the best for last. I had a feeling that it would draw too much attention if I just outright handed you these in school and with how most of the guys were acting like chocolate seeking bloodhounds, I thought I'd be best to wait till after school to give you yours. That way no one will see and it won't cause you any trouble from the male community of the school." She beamed holding the box out to Saiki.

Once again Lotus had thoroughly surprised Saiki taking him completely off guard. He'd been harping on the various reasons why Lotus hadn't gifted him with chocolates, only to discover she waited for his benefit.

 ***DOKI***

For a brief second, Saiki felt his hands shake as he reached for the box but easily steadied them grasping the gift in his hand. He gazed at the box the euphoria of not knowing what awaited within hitting him. This is the second time he had been given a gift and didn't know what was inside. Well, he knew it was chocolate, that was a given, but he didn't know what kind.

Slowly undoing the bow Saiki took the top off the box. What laid inside was several perfectly square piece of chocolates with a white creme on top.

 ***DOKI***

"They're coffee jelly flavored, or as close as I could get to it. It's solid hollow chocolate with a gooey inside to resemble jelly and I gave them smooth cream top to mimic the whipped cream that's put on top of coffee jelly," Lotus explained

 ***DOKI***

Saiki felt heat flush not only his face but his entire being, the feeling gathering gently in his chest. The more he stared at Lotus's smiling face the more intense the feeling got. Not sure how to deal with this onslaught of new emotions quickly building up Saiki vanished, teleporting away.

 _"Thank you…."_

Echoed in Lotus's mind as the other psychic disappeared.

* * *

Saiki sat at his desk the pink box of chocolate nearly empty. He wore a calm blissful look placing another piece of chocolate in his mouth, it was a great recreation of his beloved desert. As he chewed a soft pink dusted across his cheeks. Various thoughts of Lotus ran through his head and with each piece of chocolate the warmth he felt grow.

Reaching for another piece Saiki paused. He was frozen like a deer caught in headlights as realization finally hit him.

 _"Oh…..it appears I've developed a crush. That's something I didn't see coming."_

* * *

"We're home!"

Lotus stopped cutting vegetables when she heard Ethan's loud greeting.

"Welcome home you two. How was your Valentines Date?"

Violet and Ethan got lovey-dovey eyes as they held onto each other giggling and gushing.

 _"That good huh?"_

"Lotus how was your day?" Violet asked

"Hmmm? My day? It went really well. I gave out all my gifts-"

"Wait! You gave out gifts?!" Ethan yelled

"Well yeah. You saw me make chocolate. I handed them out to all my friends, you know Nendou, Kaidou, Saiki-"

"Those are all boys!" Ethan yelled

 _"Well yeah...you've met them before."_

Ethan was now in the corner of the room sulking a cloud of depression over his head.

"Uh….."

Lotus only stared at Ethan's crumpled form for another minute before the doorbell rang.

"I got it!"

She walked over to the door opening it.

 _"What the?!"_

Lotus gaped seeing the large heart-shaped red box before her. It was huge the size of a person.

"Delivery for the Goddess Angel!"

Lotus grimaced hearing that nickname. A man stepped out from behind the large box a bouquet in his arms.

 _"Why didn't I see this coming?"_

"Hello Ma'am I believe these are for you." The delivery man attempted to hand the bouquet to Lotus but her eyes widened.

"Wait don't give me those!" She shouted startling the man. "Sorry, sorry, but that bouquet got baby's breath in it right?"

"Yes, that's right."

"My sister's allergic to those I'd rather not bring them into the house," Lotus said

"Oh I'm so sorry Ma'am," The delivery man bowed apologetically.

 _"Well, that takes care of the flowers. Now how to get rid of this giant box of chocolate."_

 _"~This must be one special girl for someone to give her such a large box. ***SIGH*** I wish I could give my girlfriend something as extravagant as this.~"_ The Delivery man thought

 _"You sir have just solved my problems."_

"Excuse me Sir but I don't want this," Lotus said

"But I have to give it to you, there's no return to sender."

 _"That weirdo is getting craftier."_

"Well, then why don't you take it?" Lotus offered

"Huh?" The man questioned tilting his head.

"Well I mean it is Valentines, I bet you have someone special you'd like to give a gift too," Lotus said

The man flushed a bit scratching his cheek. "Yeah, my girlfriend would really love something like this but-"

"No buts please take it I insist. I mean technically you did deliver it to me, so you completed your job. There's nothing that says you can't have it after, especially since I'm offering it. You can take the flowers to, given that your girlfriend isn't allergic to them," Lotus said

"No, she isn't. T-Thank you so much!" The Delivery man said

"No problem happy to help spread the love." Lotus smiled

The man left with a new pep in his step, _"~Haha that girl must really be an angel cause I just got blessed. Kotoko is gonna love this!~"_

Lotus chuckled watching the happy man drive off. She was about to go inside but felt her phone vibrate. She took out the device checking a new message she had gotten.

 _"Oh. That's gonna be interesting."_


	31. Belated Valentine's Outing

**NullSilver2005 -** He's going to have a very Saiki like reaction to it.

* * *

 **Belated Valentine's Outing - Two More Enter The Ring!**

He wasn't staring. He wasn't. Saiki wasn't staring at Lotus, but simply observing her, and it had nothing to do with his newly discovered feelings. Absolutely not.

 _"Sorry Saiki, I'm gonna have to postpone our lesson for tomorrow. Something came up."_

That was what Lotus had texted Saiki last night. The two had scheduled a tutoring session for her powers, but she canceled, something she had never done before.

That was the only reason Saiki's attention was so focused on Lotus. He was just busy pondering on what Lotus could possibly be doing that would cause her to cancel her lesson, and since Saiki could not read her thoughts to immediately find out what Lotus was thinking, he was curious as to what was diverting her attention. That's why, not because of a crush, just curiosity.

The end of school came and everyone packed up their belongings ready to head home eager to start the weekend. As Saiki and Lotus gathered their things the two were joined by Nendou and Kaidou.

"So what plan's you guys got for the weekend I've got…"

 _"We don't care,"_ Saiki stated, phasing out Nendou's words.

"I've got secret training," Nendou boasted

 _"Is it really a secret if you say it?"_ Saiki said

"I'm just gonna meet up with some people," Lotus said

 _"Meet up?"_ Saiki questioned

"With who?" Kaidou asked just as curios.

"Oh, you guys wouldn't really know them. Just some guys I met," Lotus said

 _"Guys?"_ Saiki's eyes narrowed a hint.

"I gotta get going. I have to change and it'd be rude to be late." Lotus headed for the door. "Catch you guys later!"

"Guys, we don't know? That sounds highly suspicious," Kaidou stated putting a hand on his chin.

He went to the door spotting Lotus. As she was leaving she ran into Kitaro having a brief conversation with the boy before she departed.

"Hey, you!" Kaidou called out pointing at Kitaro.

Kitaro, who was startled by the shout, jumped.

"Your friends with Warrior Queen Lotus, do you know what she's doing after school today? What did she just tell you?" Kaidou asked

"After school?" Kitaro hummed thinking, "She didn't mention anything about that."

"Gee lot of help you are," Kaidou said

 _"~Okay rude~,"_ Kitaro thought sweat dropping

 _"Like your any better help."_ Saiki thought cutting his eyes at Kaidou.

"Maybe she's going out on a date!" Nendou proposed

"A date!?"

 _"A date?"_

"A date?"

The other three boys said, Kaidou being the most surprised by that sudden comment.

"No way! Your way off Nendou!" Kaidou said

"I bet I'm not!" Nendou shouted

"You're so wrong!" Kaidou said

"Then what do you think she's doing?" Nendou asked

"I bet...she's going on a secret mission," Kaidou said

"That's even stupider than what I said!" Nendou shouted

The two teens started to argue back and forth poor Kitaro stuck in the middle of them.

Saiki, however, stood by the windows of the school watching as pink hair bobbed up and down as Lotus ran off the school grounds.

* * *

Saiki was positively not following. He was most certainly not following Lotus. He definitely wasn't following Lotus because she said she'd be meeting up with guys. Absolutely not. He was just curious is all.

Saiki found himself at the downtown shopping district, Lotus not too far from his view.

Lotus had switched out her school uniform for a light pink spaghetti strap romper that ended mid-thigh. The top was ruffled with a brown belt going around her waist. The outfit was paired with brown wedge heels. Her hair was thrown up in a messy but cute bun with a loose curled strand of hair on the left side of her face.

Saiki thought the outfit looked good, but nothing about it was out of the ordinary for Lotus. Her brother always had her dressed to the nines no matter where she went.

"Miss Lotus! Miss Lotus!"

A young blonde-haired boy was running towards Lotus waving happily. Behind him was a second boy, he was taller than the blonde with dark-blue, almost black hair.

Who were these two random guys? Someone Lotus had met months before, and Saiki knew who.

 _"It's the Beach Pervert,"_ Saiki thought

Yup Lotus was meeting up with the boy she had rescued from the Beach. But he wasn't alone as the adorable Shima was with him.

"Miss Lotus it's good to see you again!" Shima greeted with a large smile.

"Nice to see you too, Shima." Lotus smiled back.

 _"~Alright now it's time to play it cool.~"_

Maru closed his eyes, leaning against a sign flipping his hair. "Hello."

He waits for Lotus's response.

 _"~ She's sure taking her time…..maybe I stunned her into silence with my suave nature?~"_

Saiki had to hold himself back from rolling his eyes, _"Yeah right."_

Opening his eyes Maru gaped seeing Lotus wasn't paying any attention to him and was still conversing with Shima.

 _"~What?! When did those two become so buddy-buddy?!~"_

"...Right, Maru?"

"Huh?" Maru tuned in to the conversation when his name was called.

"I said that the new cafe was great right?" Shima said

"Oh yeah. Uh let's get going we wanna beat the crowds," Maru said

"Yeah!" Shima cheered

The three started walking to their destination Saiki slowly trailing behind.

"Hey Shima, how are you so close to her?" Maru whispered

"Oh, me and Miss Lotus have been texting ever since the Beach," Shima said

"What?!"

Shima gave his friend a confused look, "Haven't you been talking to her too? I did give you her number."

"Well I…."

Maru did not want to admit it, but he had been too nervous to actually contact the girl. He typically would just stare at the number contemplating on what he would say before abandoning the whole idea.

"Well now's your chance to get to know her. Miss Lotus is great, she's also super funny," Shima said

Maru at first seemed crushed over the closeness his friend already shared with Lotus but then his eyes steeled with a look of determination.

 _"~By the end of this day I will be just as close to Lotus as Shima is, and I'm making it my goal to get a kiss!~"_

 _"Not happening."_ Saiki narrowed his eyes

* * *

The trio, or group date, or whatever you would call Lotus, Shima, and Maru, entered a pop culture store. Lotus made a beeline for the collectibles fawning over the manga and anime related things. Shima joined her the two gushing and conversing over the various items.

"Attention Ladies and Gentlemen!" A female voice spoke over an intercom. "Going on sale is the limited edition of Slayer Striker: Final Edition! Hurry before we're all sold!"

"Slayer Striker! I love that series!" Lotus said

"Me too!" Shima said

"We have to get a copy, right!" Lotus said

"Right!" Shima agreed

Maru watched the two still taken aback by how close they were. Who knew they would have so much in common?

Lotus and Shima were about to take off heading to the front of the store in hopes to grab their own copy of the Manga but a rumbling sound made them pause. From around the corner came a stampede of people running to the front of the store.

"Wha-Ahhhh!"

Shima shouted as he was swept up into the crowd being carried off by the wave of people.

"Ah! Shima!" Lotus shouted running after the poor boy.

Maru sighed, "It's sad but that's not the first time that's happened to Shima."

Maru was about to help but paused a smirk forming on his face.

 _"~Hehe I know, while those two are busy I'll get the last edition of that manga and Lotus will surely reward me.~"_

Maru took off sprinting to the front of the store heading for the display. He turned a corner seeing-

"Ah, they're all out!" Maru shouted

He fell to his hand and knees defeated.

"Hey, you okay?"

"Maru what are you doing on the ground?"

Maru looked up to see Shima and Lotus standing before him, both of them holding the exclusive limited-edition manga.

 _"~Wha?! But how the heck did they get those?!~"_

"Th-Those Manga how'd you…." Maru questioned pointing at the books.

"Oh, Shima grabbed them. The wave of people carried him to the front of the store, right where the Manga was displayed. He was able to grab them and with his small stature he was able to slip right back out of the crowd really easily," Lotus explained

Shima smiled nodding his head. "Yup. It was almost like I floated right on top of the people. Look Maru I was able to grab you one too."

He handed the manga over to his friend who took it with a shaky hand.

"Th-Thanks Shima."

 **Attempt 1 — Fail**

* * *

Shima skipped in between Lotus and Maru as the trio made their way to their next destination. They came to a crosswalk, waiting for the light to change along with the rest of the pedestrians. The "Do Not Cross" light changed and everyone started walking. Within the large crowd, a group of rowdy children ran though bumping into people, one of those people being Lotus.

Lotus tripped as a boy ran into her side.

 _"~Chance!~"_

Maru smiled holding his arms out with the expectation of catching the girl.

 _"Nope."_ Saiki waved his hand and Lotus was pulled back on her feet.

Maru's smirk got bigger as a body landed in his hands. He looked down anticipating the large doe eyes of Lotus.

"Why thank you, young man."

Instead of Lotus, there was an elderly woman in his arms.

 _"~Who the heck are you!?~"_

 **Attempt 2 — Fail**

* * *

"Wow, this place looks great!" Shima exclaimed

The group finally reached their destination, a cafe that was designed to resemble a giant cake.

"Cool, I've never seen a cafe like this before," Lotus said

The teens walked in and were warmly greeted by a waiter who brought them to a booth in the back. Maru sat first and was about to offer the empty seat next to him to Lotus but halted seeing Lotus sit across from him with Shima sliding in right next to her.

They picked up their menus going over the various options.

"It all looks so good. I can't decide. What do you guys think?" Lotus asked

"I'm gonna try all the cake!" Shima cheered like an excited kid.

Lotus giggled patting Shima's head. "Shima you're adorable."

Shima gave Lotus a beaming smile in return.

Maru silently cried behind his menu _"~Why is this happening to me? Shima you traitor!~"_

A few tables back a menu was lowered revealing Saiki.

 **Attempt 3 — Fail**

* * *

The group left the restaurant a sullen Maru following Shima and Lotus.

 _"~This has been the worst date ever.~"_

Lotus looked to Maru's downcast form, feeling a bit bad for the guy.

 _"~Let's see...who would make the perfect target?~"_

A voice filtered into Lotus's mind prompting her confusion.

 _"Target?"_ She thought

 _"~Hmmmm….yeah she looks good. The guys she's with don't look like a threat either, especially the blonde one.~"_

 _"Wait is he talking about-?"_

Before Lotus could finish her thought her purse had been wretched out of her arms.

"Hey! My purse!" Lotus shouted

"My purse now lady!"

 _"How cliche is this!?"_

"Hey stop!" Maru shouted before he took off running after the thief.

"Maru wait! It could be dangerous!" Shima called out.

 _"Ugh what to do? Maru's not going to catch up to that guy and I can't exactly use psychic powers to stop him either I don't have that kind of control."_

Lotus looked around before spotting something and a light bulb sparked over her head.

 _"Now that I can use!"_

Lotus approached a vendor selling some fruit. She grabbed a nice unripe firm apple promising to pay the vendor in a moment. Shima stared confused by the girls' actions.

 _"~Her purse got stolen, but she's getting an apple?~"_ He thought confused

Lotus tightly gripped the fruit in her hand before taking a deep breath. She pulled her arm back in a windup eyes locking on her target then Lotus launched the apple.

"Whoa!" Shima gaped as the apple flew overhead in a speedy perfect arc.

The apple soared through the air before coming back down to earth. The thief continued to laugh believing he was going to get away not noticing the fruity projectile heading his way.

"I said stop!" Maru shouted getting closer to the thief.

"Not ha-AHHH!"

Just as Maru put his hand on the man's back, the apple hit its target beaming the thief right in the head. He fell to the ground dropping Lotus's purse in the process.

Maru hopped right over the fallen thief's body scooping up Lotus's purse.

"I got it!" Maru cheered holding the purse up like a trophy.

 _"~Wow I've really gotten strong. Just one shove, and he fell to the ground.~"_ Maru thought

Saiki once again had to suppress an eye roll.

Maru stood proudly holding the purse up like some kind of prize.

Lotus and Shima walked over as the authorities joined in. They cuffed the thief dragging him off.

"Here you are Lotus," Maru grinned handing over the bag to Lotus.

Lotus gave her own smile. "Thank you so much for getting it back for me."

Maru chuckled abashedly, "It was no problem."

Shima was confused but looked to Lotus. She smiled winking putting a finger over her mouth in a hushed motion. Shima smiled nodding his head in understanding copying Lotus's motion.

Maru was still reveling in his "capture" of the thief that he didn't notice the two's exchange.

 _"~I'm the hero! I saved the day. Now all that's left is to receive my reward. Maybe Lotus will even give me a kiss.~"_ Maru thought with a flushed face.

 _"Now I regret it. It's gone to his head. Think again, buddy."_

Lotus made an uncomfortable face seeing Maru attempt to lean in for a kiss. She was about to put her hand up to block him, but she didn't have to as a splash of water landed on his head.

"What!" Maru shouted

"Sorry about that kid!"

Maru, Shima, and Lotus all looked up to see a window washer above them.

"Must've kicked over my bucket without knowing. Sorry," The man apologized

The corner of Saiki's lips were slightly upturned in a minuscule amused smirk.

 _"~This really sucks.~"_

Lotus sighed feeling bad for Maru, not enough to kiss him though. Digging into her purse she pulled out one of her embroidered handkerchiefs.

"Here you go, obviously it's not big enough to get you dry but it's better than nothing," Lotus stated handing the cloth over to Maru.

"Thank you," Maru took the cloth wiping off his face.

 _"~Smells sweet.~"_ Maru thought

"Thanks for getting my purse back. How about we meet up again, this time meals on me to say thanks," Lotus said

"Really?" Maru asked wide-eyed.

"Yeah," Lotus said

 _"~I still have a chance!~"_

 _"No, you don't. She's just being nice."_

Saiki was going to have to keep his eye on this one.


	32. Time for a Telepathy Free Movie!

_This is Lotus_

 _This is Saiki_

 ** _This is Saiki and Lotus_**

 _~This is the thoughts of others~_

* * *

 **Sister vs. Salesman! - Time for a Telepathy Free Movie!**

Lotus had just finished her homework when the front doorbell rang.

 _"Wonder who that could be?"_

She walked downstairs heading to the door.

"I got it, Violet!" Lotus called out.

"Thank you!" Violet called back.

Lotus opened the door confused to see a middle-aged man wearing a business suit.

"Hello, young miss!"

Lotus held back a sigh, _"Great a door to door salesman."_

"Hello, what can I do for you today?" Lotus greeted

"Why Miss it's not what you can do for me but what I can do for you. I'm here to offer your household a lovely array of products that you can surely use to improve your everyday lives," The Salesman said

 _"I see…"_

"Might I be able to speak the adult of the house?" He asked

"Humm…I could grab my sister."

Lotus gave a tiny sigh. _"It couldn't hurt, besides, he's just a man trying to make a living can't fault him for that."_

 _"~Hehe if her sister looks just as much as a bimbo as she does then I've hit a gold mine!~"_

Lotus twitched an anger mark appearing on the back of her head. _"Oh-ho, so that's how it's gonna be."_

Lotus gave the man a bright smile masking all her anger.

"Give me one-moment sir and I'll go grab her right now."

"Excellent!"

 _"~Sucker!~"_

Lotus walked into the house heading to the living room. Violet was sitting at the coffee table, books and papers spread out as she worked.

"Violet."

The lavender haired woman turned her head as her name was called.

"Yes, Lotus?"

Lotus leaned down whispering into her sister's ear. When she was done, Lotus pulled back from her sister.

"Ah, I see…"

Violet, rather calmly, took off her glasses folding them before placing them on the table. She stood up for her seat walking to the front door, Lotus trailing behind her.

When she reached the door the salesman gave Violet an overly wide smile.

"Hello Ma'am would you happen to be the woman of the house?"

Violet gave the man a friendly smile. "That I am."

"Fantastic! You see I-"

Violet put her hand up interrupting the man. "I'm sorry sir, I'm going to have to stop you there."

"Huh?"

 _"~What's up with this woman?~"_

"You see the thing is…."

The air got thick and the man started to sweat as he felt a dark presence waft through the air.

"I can't stand people like you."

"Wh-ah!"

Violet grabbed the man by the front of his suit. She still wore her pleasant smile but the aura around her said anything but pleasant.

"Now listen here."

With Violet's above-average height she was able to lift the man completely off his feet, so they dangled a few feet above the ground.

"I don't know who you think you are but if you think you've just arrived at a house full of gullible doe-eyed women you're sadly mistaken. This is a den. A den of lovely graceful deadly lions. If I as so much catch wind of you anywhere near my home again I'll make you wish you'd had encountered a real lion."

Violet dropped the man, and he hit the ground landing on his backside.

"Understood?"

The man said nothing staring up at Violet petrified.

"I said….do you understand?" Violet spoke her tone getting even darker.

"Yes, Ma'am!" The man cried nodding his head up and down so fast he might give himself whiplash.

"Good," Violet pointed to the gate around the house. "Now get out of here."

The man screamed running away.

"Well that takes care of that," Violet wore a satisfied smile dusting off her hands.

She turned around to see Lotus standing there holding her phone.

"I got it all recorded. Ethan is going to love this," Lotus chuckled

"I hope you got my good side!" Violet joked

* * *

Lotus had just been pouring herself and Sir Henry a cup of tea when a ring sounded throughout the house, signaling that someone was at the door.

 _"Huh? I wasn't expecting anyone today. It can't possibly be that salesman from yesterday."_

Lotus was home alone, Ethan having left for a job and Violet out doing some research for school. With her cup in hand, Lotus made her way to the front door.

"Hold on, hold on, I'm coming!" Lotus called out walking to the door.

She opened the door pleasantly surprised to see Saiki there.

"Saiki?"

Lotus was thoroughly confused, especially by the fact that Saiki was holding up a ring case with two rings in it.

 _"We're going to the movies,"_ Saiki stated

Lotus choked, air getting caught in her throat. Her cup falling from her hands.

"Wha?!"

* * *

After Lotus calmed down Saiki was able to explain what he meant by his statement. He explained the conman who had come by scamming his mother. When his enraged mother chased him away he dropped all of his shady product. Among the products was a set of rings made of a metal called germanium. With direct skin contact, it blocked Saiki's ability to hear others' thoughts. In other words, it stopped his telepathy.

 _"Haha, first Violet then Mrs. Saiki. I don't think that man will ever step foot in this neighborhood again."_ Lotus thought

Saiki handed a ring over to Lotus.

 _"Incredible. Who would've thought there was a material that could nullify psychic powers."_

Lotus looked up at Saiki hearing nothing, not a single thought of his filtered into her mind.

 _"If I use this I won't have constant thoughts flooding in my head all the time. Especially when Ethan is on one of his inspiration bouts, his mind gets so busy. Then there's also Violet, whenever she's studying her thoughts run laps in her mind. This is great but…"_ Lotus looked from the ring back to Saiki, _"If I wear this all the time then I won't be able to communicate with Saiki since he talks to everyone using his psychic powers."_

Lotus tucked the ring in her pocket so it wasn't touching her skin. "Thank you, Saiki. This will come in handy for later."

* * *

Being an all-powerful psychic, Saiki was far different from others. No one could understand his plight, no one that is until Lotus came around. Maybe that's why Saiki did not resist so much when the girl wormed her way into his everyday life.

Lotus and Saiki often conversed over various subjects one being shows and movies that they couldn't enjoy due to the vast amount of spoilers the two received from others thoughts. Recently they both had talked about a new movie that was coming out that they both really wanted to see. Obviously, it would be rather difficult getting to the theater before it was ruined. Lotus would often come up with various scenarios and plans to which they could use to get to the theater and see the movie without it being completely ruined.

Her best plan that seemed like it was going to work was to see the very first viewing of a new movie the day it was released. In theory, it was a smart idea, but it was extremely hard to get movie tickets for opening night for any good movies. When she was finally able to do so the movie had been ruined by a hardcore fan who had someone bootlegged the movie, bragging to those about how he saw it, ruining the whole plot of the story.

So like Saiki she had given up on ever being surprised by a new movie. That is until today.

* * *

Lotus quickly noticed that Saiki had somewhat of a hard time navigating the busy sidewalks without the use of his telepathy. She watched as Saiki would almost stumble into people, or strangers would try to engage the pink-haired boy in a conversation which he was clearly uncomfortable in doing.

 _"It makes sense. Saiki's use of telepathy is second nature to him. Since he hears people's thoughts he can easily avoid people without even needing to look at them. He could also easily avoid someone who attempted to talk to him before they even open their mouths."_

As Saiki was once again about to be roped into another conversation with a stranger Lotus came up to him hooking one of her arms with hers. Saiki took his attention off, who he dubbed Nendou D, and zoomed in on his arm that was hooked with Lotus.

Lotus gave the man before them a smile. "I'm sorry sir, but were in a bit of a hurry."

The man chuckled looking between Saiki and Lotus, "Oh that's fine Missy. You two have fun now."

Lotus started to pull Saiki away. "Have a good day!"

Lotus kept her and Saiki's arms intertwined. "I hope you don't mind. If we walk to the theater like this people are less likely to strike up random conversations. Also, if someone does try to talk to you, I can easily get you out of it, just like now. You don't mind if we stay like this do you?"

Saiki calmly shook his head no and actually adjusted his arm into a more relaxed position for Lotus.

Lotus smiled feeling her cheeks grow a tad warm.

* * *

When the pink-haired duo arrived at the theater Saiki paid for the tickets. Lotus was surprised by that, telling Saiki he didn't need to pay for her, but he brushed the matter off. In return, she was adamant about getting the snacks for the movie.

When the concessions stand came into view Lotus tugged on Saiki's arm to grab his attention.

"I'll go get the snacks be right back."

Saiki nodded his head before Lotus walked off. He stood around waiting for the girl rather happy for the upcoming movie.

Two guys who had just seen the movie walked by him and for the first time in his life, the movie wasn't ruined thanks to his telepathy. But that's when an unexpected variable arrived on the scene.

A third man came rushing out the bathroom joining his three friends.

"Hey wait for me! Anyway, that was incredible, wasn't it? You know, that scene, where the main chara-ahh!"

The guy had been cut off as a box of candy beamed him in the back of the head. As the box made impact small chocolate wafers scatter the floor.

"The heck?" The guys' friend questioned turning around spotting an irked Lotus.

"Hey!" Lotus shouted

"What was that for?" The guy cried rubbing the back of his head as he faced Lotus.

"No spoilers!" She exclaimed, pointing at the guy she had hit. "Other people haven't seen the movie yet. So be courteous and don't ruin it by talking about it."

"Okay, okay, sorry geeze," The guy grumbled

Lotus walked over to Saiki a small pout on her lips, "Guy made me waste my candy."

Saiki gave Lotus a look and she briefly removed her ring so they could communicate.

 _"You're the one who irrationally chucked the box at him."_ He pointed out.

"Yeah, but he was about to ruin the movie," Lotus said

 _"Yes, but did you have to hit him? I could have just plugged my ears,"_ Saiki stated

"Crap your right. Well, I'm still not sorry for hitting him, this is kind of a big deal. I haven't been able to see a proper movie in months but it's also a huge deal for you," Lotus said

 _"What?"_ Saiki questioned

"You probably haven't been able to see a proper movie without spoilers ever! So it kind of really made me angry when that guy was about to ruin it. You seem really excited to finally enjoy a movie, I didn't want that guy to ruin it." Lotus explained

Saiki blank stared at Lotus. Yes, what she did was a bit unnecessary but her intentions were good, simply wanting to help Saiki enjoy a real movie experience. It was one of the qualities of Lotus, that made Saiki like her.

Saiki sighed before walking away from Lotus. He came back a few moments later something in hand.

 _"Here."_ Saiki took the object passing it off to Lotus.

"Huh?" Lotus took it happy to see it was another box of the candy she had lost or rather thrown. "Thanks, Saiki."

Saiki nodded his head in acknowledgment as Lotus slipped her ring back on.

The duo started to make their way to Auditorium 3. Lotus's hands were full of an array of snacks she bought, but she was excited also she had to make sure she had plenty to share with Saiki.

As she walked next to Saiki a couple passed by them. The man checked shoulders with Lotus knocking the poor girl off her feet. All the snacks in her arms fell to the dirty ground.

 _"Noooo! My unhealthy but delicious movie treats!"_

The couple both looked down at Lotus with sneering expressions.

"Hey watch where you're going you little tramp!" The guy shouted

"Jeez is almost spilled on me!" The woman rudely whined

 _"Did that guy just call me a tramp?!"_

Lotus glared at the couple, the girl's brow twitching in anger. Before she could follow them and give them a verbal beat down, two ice cubes flew through the air beaming the couple in the back of their heads rather hard.

Lotus covered her mouth stifling her laughter as she stared at the confused couple.

Saiki wore a minuscule smile adjusting his glasses, one part happy that he was able to teach those jerks somewhat of a lesson and also happy that he was able to get Lotus to laugh like that.

"Saiki, I'm gonna get some more snacks can you save a seat for me?" Lotus asked

Saiki nodded yes and the two split up.

* * *

Saiki found the perfect seats for him and Lotus and with a satisfied smile he sat down.

"Huh...uh Saiki?"

Saiki was quickly snapped out of his own thoughts as a voice right next to him spoke. He looked to his right to see the one and only Teruhashi sitting right there.

"Oh, what a coincidence!" Teruhashi said

 _"Of all the people I had to sit next to, Teruhashi."_

Teruhashi looked away from Saiki, her cheeks red.

 _"She's acting weird. I have no idea what she's thinking. She's not Teruhashi anymore, she's Nendou L. This is bad but I can't worry about it now. I've been wanting to see this movie for a while and so has Lotus."_

"Uhm Saiki," Teruhashi spoke interrupting Saiki's thoughts. "I'm not just making up an excuse but I don't want you to get the wrong idea either. See I'm here with someone…"

 _"So?"_ Saiki thought not really caring.

Before he had to listen to any more of Teruhashi's words a male voice called out interrupting the girl.

"Hey, Kokomi! I got us popcorn."

A rather handsome male walked up wearing sunglasses despite the fact he was inside.

 _"Huh? Whose that? If Teruhashi thinks he's worthy of her he must be pretty-"_

Saiki's thoughts were once again cut off as they guy yelled at him.

"Hey, you there! Just what are you doing with my Kokomi!"

Saiki wasn't all threatened by the guys shouting. He really didn't want to be involved with whatever this was. Lucky for him he didn't have to because at that moment Lotus arrived arms full of new unsullied snacks.

"Hey, Saiki did you find us a seat….?" Lotus trailed off seeing Teruhashi sitting next to Saiki.

The blue-haired teen went pale stunned as she stared at Lotus with a gaping mouth.

 _"Oh this not going to end well."_

With the ring on Lotus couldn't hear Teruhashi's thoughts but judging by the girls face she was having some kind of meltdown.

Teruhashi wasn't the only one freaking out. The male she had brought with her was also staring at Lotus mouth agape.

He whipped his sunglasses off staring at Lotus. "It's you! The lovely blooming flower! Lady Lotus!"

This time it was Lotus's turn to go pale. _"It's him! And what kind of nickname is that?!"_

Saiki was really itching to take off his ring, he wanted to know what was going on, and how this guy knew Lotus.

 _"Hm?"_

With his sunglasses on he looked somewhat familiar. Saiki glanced down at the movie poster in his hands then back at the guy. The actor and the guy before him were the same person.

Teruhashi let out a short gasp looking to the guy. "Don't take your sunglasses off!" She exclaimed

With his face revealed to the world, the audience started to gasp and fan over the idol before them.

"Hey look!"

"Seriously?!"

"That's the star of the movie, Toru Mugami!"

"What?! What's he doing here?!"

"Please give me your autograph!"

In a matter of seconds the auditorium was in an uproar. A mob surrounding and swarming the star, Lotus and Saiki caught in the middle, their bodies being shoved and pushed.

 ** _"I can't believe Teruhashi brought him here."_**

In the end, Lotus and Saiki did not get to see their movie as the showing was canceled due to the commotion.


	33. It's the Superstar Mugami Tooru!

**MoonyKunai -** Glad you like it. As for your question, she can not. In fact, I have a special chapter in the works that features that fact.

* * *

 _This is Lotus_

 _This is Saiki_

 ** _Saiki and Lotus_**

 _~Thoughts of others~_

* * *

 **It's the Superstar Mugami Tooru! - Or Rather the Weirdo Makato Teruhashi**

Saiki teleported himself and Lotus back to his home. The two psychics sitting at his table or rather slumped at the table, today's events having worn them out.

 _"Geeze who knew trying to see a movie could be so taxing."_

Lotus and Saiki let out exasperated sighs as the door to the room opened. Kurumi walked in surprised to see her son along with Lotus.

"Oh hello Lotus dear I didn't know you were here," Kurumi greeted with a bright smile.

"Sorry for the intrusion it was an unexpected arrival," Lotus replied

"What were you two crazy kids up to today?" Kurumi asked

"We tried to see a movie but that didn't go as planned. I'm just tired and hungry now." Lotus stated

"Oh! I was actually just about to start dinner, you're welcomed to join us," Kurumi offered

"Really? I'd hate to intrude," Lotus said

Kurumi happily waved off Lotus's words. "Nonsense, my future daughter-in-law is welcomed whenever."

"Hehe.." Lotus gave an embarrassed chuckle her cheeks tinting red.

She got up from seat walking over to Kurumi.

"Well since you're offering for me to stay the least I could do is offer my help in the kitchen."

Kurumi smiled even brighter clapping her hands together. "How wonderful! It'll be so nice to have someone else in the kitchen with me."

Lotus and Kurumi started to exit the room.

"By the way, I heard this interesting story about you and a salesman mind if you tell it to me?"

* * *

Lotus was in the kitchen laughing from Kurumi's story. The girl's laughter was contagious as Kurumi joined in as well.

The two chatted and cooked enjoying their time.

Lotus stirred a pot of soup before dipping a spoon in.

"How's this Mrs. Saiki?" Lotus asked holding out the spoon.

"Oh dear, there's no need to be so formal you can call me Kurumi or better yet call me Mom!" Kurumi said

Lotus chuckled again, an embarrassing sweatdrop forming on the back of her head.

Kurumi took the spoon from Lotus tasting the soup.

"Oh, it's absolutely splendid! Who taught you how to cook?" Kurumi asked

"Well, I'm self-thought. With my parents away all the time and my sister so busy with studying, I took it upon myself to take care of the basic home needs. Cooking, cleaning, things like that. Now that I'm older I still take care of that stuff. My sister and Ethan a pretty busy. I wanted to make sure that they were given all the time they needed to work hard, its also my way of showing gratitude for letting me live with them. So I take care of all the household work."

Lotus heard sniffling and looked to Kurumi. The woman had small tears prickling at the side of her eyes as she held a handkerchief over her mouth.

"How touching. Your such a sweet young girl!" Kurumi said

Lotus smiled, "Thank you."

"My little Kusuo is going to be in such good hands with you around."

Lotus felt her face go red again and quickly focused her attention back on the cooking pot before her.

Lotus was saved from any more embarrassment as the doorbell rang.

"Oh, a visitor! I'll get it!" Kurumi sang out leaving the kitchen.

Whoever was at the door was a rather impatient individual as they continued to ring the doorbell in rapid succession.

Lotus was mid-way through draining a pot of noodles into a colander when a shrill scream echoed through the home.

"Ahhhhh!"

Lotus, startled by Kurumi's scream, dropped the pot.

"Crap!"

Lotus thrust her hand out and the noodles were encased in a pink light. The food's descent to the floor was stopped as the noodles floated midair, but Lotus wasn't able to react quickly enough to catch the falling water.

"Man…." Lotus sighed. "At least I kept the food safe. I need to clean this mess up."

Lotus floated the noodles into a bowl as she brought out a rag going to clean up the water.

"Wonder what caused her to scream like that? Maybe she saw a bug?"

Lotus shuddered at the idea. She was unaware of the chaos ensuing since she had yet to take off her telepathy blocking ring.

* * *

Now the reason why Kurumi had screamed in such a manner was due to the fact that she was surprised, very surprised, as a celebrity was standing right in her doorway.

"Sorry to pop in like this. Is the residence of Kusuo Saiki?"

The top idol Mugami Tooru, real name Teruhashi Makoto, has arrived on the scene.

Kuniharu blinked staring at the teen before him, he looked into the living room where he could see the TV which so happens to be featuring the very star before him.

"Oh my god!"

Kurumi and Kuniharu started freaking out shouting so loud they could probably be heard all across the neighborhood.

 _"Stop, you're scaring the neighbors."_

* * *

After the married couple settled down they went into host mode. They brought Makoto back to the family room along with Saiki, giving both boys some tea.

"Here you go," Kurumi said

"Thank you very much." Makoto turned to Saiki who was sitting across from him. "Kusuo do you remember how you and I bumped into each other at the movie theater early today?"

As Makoto talked Saiki sort of phoned him out.

 _"I don't want to have to deal with this weirdo in my own home but it's better than him ambushing me on the street."_

"-You see people always assume that two hotties like us are dating. But Kokomi is actually my younger sister." Makoto explained

"Wow, you're related!" Kurumi gushed

 _"Yes, I already knew all of this."_

"Tooru Mugami is a stage name. I'm actually Makoto Teruhashi. Anyway, Kokomi's super freaked that Kusuo's got the wrong idea about us, so I came over here to smooth things over," Makoto said

Saiki's parents started to gush again.

 _"Please stop saying stupid things."_

Kurumi looked at the clock noting the time.

"Oh, I need to check on dinner."

Kurumi and Kuniharu got up leaving the room.

Makoto smiled watching them leave, "Man I wish our parents were as chill as yours were Kusuo!" He spoke rather loudly. "Probably best they leave though cause I have another message I'd like to give and it's super serious. Stay away from my sister you piece of filth. I don't know if you're crushing on her in school or what, but shut it down. She's way out of your league pink-haired four eyes."

 _"Wow I already knew you felt this way but I never thought you would tell me to my face even I'll admit this stings."_

"Your just a fly hovering over poop."

 _"Wait is Teruhashi the poop in this metaphor?"_

"You really think you have a chance?"

 _"I'm not thinking that."_

"Since you see her every day and say hi to her in the hall you'll probably think you'll have some long courtship and marry her huh?"

 _"Not thinking that either."_

"Well stop dreaming you pervert."

 _"How many times do I have to say this?"_

"She's so pretty you're drawn to her like hyenas are to a rotting zebra carcass on the Savannah. But it's only natural."

 _"Now she's rotting flesh?"_

"Kokomi is no normal pretty girl. She's a masterpiece painted by god himself!"

 _"That's an exaggeration."_

"There only one man suited for Kokomi, which actually brings me to my next point stay away from my lovely goddess of the blooming flowers, Lady Lotus."

 _"Seriously?"_

"You're not worthy of being near such a woman, just for a lowly insect such as yourself to merely gaze upon my Lady Lotus should be a crime."

 _"When did she become yours?"_

"When I first laid eyes on her it was obvious that her beauty surpassed that of the common man, but when we talked I was struck, by the powerful beauty that exuberated from within her. She is far above any earthly plain and is a goddess who walks this earth!"

 _"Is exaggeration your special skill?"_

"Her skin flawless like that of the most highest quality porcelain dolls. Her pink flowing locks that cascade like waves. Those alluring pink eyes that can entrap any creature. Those supple punk lips like perfect cherry blossoms floating in the wind. And the figure crafted to perfection. She is beauty incarnate!"

 _"I'm starting to feel uncomfortable here."_

"Lady Lotus's beauty can blind any man. She's like staring at the sun. I'm not sure what relationship you hold with Lady Lotus but it ends today. Let's be honest you fall drastically short of my Kokomi but your universes away from Lady Lotus."

 _"Talk about harsh."_

"You see one day I'm going to marry the goddess. The only man who even comes close to being worthy to gaze and caress her perfect divine body is me!"

 _"He's not just harsh but a pervert too."_

"And when I do marry the goddess we'll create the most perfect children this world has ever seen! Each one more heavenly and beautiful than the next! Men and women alike will worship the very ground they walk upon!"

 _"He's straight delusional."_

"Then and only then will the perfect man for Kokomi come forth. As the perfect man for my sister is my future perfect son!"

 _". . .Did he really just say that?"_

"You see I've been with Kokomi since birth."

 _"Because your siblings."_

"So only I know the perfect man worthy for her. I'll never let some ugly nobody lay a single hand on her. The perfect man for her will only come from the most perfect people on this planet which is me and the goddess Lady Lotus! Hahahaha!"

Makoto started to laugh as he hugged himself in a creepy manner.

 _"Does he not realize their ages would be too far apart and that's just one of the many things wrong with what he just said. How did his parents let it get this bad? Obsession doesn't even cover how this freak feels."_

Makoto turned to Saiki giving him a glaring smile.

"Don't you dare come near my precious sister nor my future wife. Don't look at them, don't even breathe the same air as them."

 _"What a pain. I got the attention of a real nut job."_

"Hey, Saiki-!"

The door to the room opened and Lotus was standing there holding some plates.

Makoto was frozen staring at Lotus, the girl staring right back confused.

"Uhm….am I interrupting something?"

 _"This is going to get worse isn't it?"_

Makoto shook off his stupor putting on a charming smile. "Greetings, Lady Lotus. What a remarkably pleasant surprise to see you. When I came to visit Kusuo I had no idea I'd run into you as well, what a stroke of wondrous luck."

"Uhm...sorry but who are you again?" Lotus asked

"GAH!"

Makoto went stark white, his jaw dropped hanging wide open. He was frozen in place his soul slowly leaving his body. Saiki wore a small smirk adjusting his glasses.

 **Saiki - 1 Makoto - 0**

Despite the fact Makoto sent Lotus several gifts he never signed his name, assuming that she already knew who he was. What Makoto did not take into account was the fact that Lotus paid very little attention to celebrities. She only knows the guy as the weirdo who keeps sending her strange gifts.

Saiki, satisfied with Lotus's reaction to Makoto, stood up.

 _"Time to send him home."_

The doorbell rang grabbing the rooms' attention.

 _"You have a visitor."_

The door to the room slammed open revealing the younger female Teruhashi.

"Kokomi?" Makoto questioned finally being jolted out of his despondent stated.

"What are you doing here?" Kokomi cried

"What are you doing here?" Makoto countered

 _"I called her. I thought to Teruhashi using telepathy. Now take this perv home."_

Lotus, rather confused as to what was going on, kept looking back and forth between the siblings as an upset Kokomi was shouting at her brother.

"Now, now, I only came here because I know you thought that Saiki got the wrong idea. Right?" Makoto said

"How do you know I thought that?" Kokomi questioned

"I'm your big brother. I always know what your thinking. Anyway, you don't have to worry I explained it all." Makoto said

Kokomi's distressed look turned into one of relief. _"~Oh that's so sweet….wait!~"_ She turned her attention to the other male present in the room. _"~No! No! If he explained it now Saiki knows I was worried I got the wrong idea!~"_ Kokomi's upset expression came back tenfold.

"I'm always here for you si-"

"Why…"

"Huh?"

Kokomi was so upset she was shaking. "Why did you have to stick your nose into my personal life? I hate you big brother! I hate you!"

Makoto's world crumbled around him as Kokomi shouted those three words to him.

 _"Guy looks crushed."_

"Don't ever talk to me again!"

Kokomi turned running out of the room, as she exited she finally noticed the other pink-haired individual within the room.

Lotus sweatdropped seeing the shocked look on the other girls face as she ran out of the room.

As Kokomi left his house, Saiki could hear her rather wild thoughts the entire time.

 _"~Why was she in there?!~"_ Kokomi freaked out. _"~First the movies and now she's at his house. How is my rival so close to him?! How much time do they spend alone? Not like I care or something like that but how is my rival grabbing so much attention?! This is unfathomable! Ahhh!~"_

Kokomi left the residence leaving behind her brother.

 _"Don't leave him here."_

 _"I am beyond confused right now."_


	34. It's Testing Time

**hoopsandyoyo42 -** I never thought of that but now that you mentioned it grat idea. I have a special chapter planned that would pair well with that idea. Thank you!

 **Lucarian77 -** Thank you! I agree with you, it's one of the reasons why I decided to start writing this fic.

 **Clarent excalibur -** They can get closer but there will always be some kind of rivalry. Maybe they can band together to avoid her brother.

 **Zorua1 -** Yeah, need to fix that. Don't know why I thought they were first years.

 **Egyptian dragon -** I may introduce him earlier than in the anime, but I don't think I'll make him go for Lotus like that simply because it's too obvious and easy.

 **anonamus -** I've got a chapter planned later down the line I think your gonna love.

 **Thank you to all the reviews, favorites, and follows. It's hard to keep up with who follows and favorites but thank you all!**

* * *

 _This is Lotus_

 _This is Saiki_

 ** _This is Saiki and Lotus_**

~ _Thoughts of others~_

* * *

 **It's Testing Time! - Pencil Dice the Ultimate Weapon!**

"Lotus I'm truly grateful for everything."

"No problem it's no trouble."

Lotus sat before Ethan's computer having a video chat conversation with Joshua. They often talked so Joshua could gather more information about Lotus in order to write his Manga.

"The book is selling great! My boss loves it. It's really drawing in the female audience," Joshua explained

"Awesome. Manga shouldn't be limited by gender or age. It's something I think everyone should be able to enjoy," Lotus said

"I can't agree more. My Boss has been contemplating on some kind of promotional event later down the line. But he wants to know if you'd be involved?" Joshua asked

"Well...I'd have to think on it," Lotus said

"No worries. There's no rush. Just let me know. I want to keep you as in the loop as possible since the main character is basically you," Joshua said

"Got it. Thanks for the info," Lotus said

"Thank you. Talk to you later," Joshua said

"Bye." Lotus gave a small wave as the call ended.

* * *

"Here you are Lotus!" Ethan smiled presenting the girl with something.

"Oh wow, Ethan thank you! It looks great!" Lotus said

"Only the best for my little sister," Ethan said

In Ethan's hand was Lotus's Germanium ring but it was different. The ring had been redesigned so it had a spinning band. Ethan also added some engraving, putting Lotus's name on it as wells as carving in some flowers.

Lotus took the ring putting it on her finger. "It's a perfect fit."

"As it should be, now it won't slip off. Now spin the top part of the band so it locks in place," Ethan said

Lotus does what Ethan says and when the band goes in place all thoughts from others cease.

"It works!"

"Awesome! The ring's got a small opening on the inner part of the band that opens and closes when the outer band is turned. When it's open it allows the Germanium to touch your skin but when it's closed it's just a normal ring," Ethan explained

"It's perfect," Lotus said

"Ahh! Praise from little sister Lotus just makes me so happy! Today is gonna be a good day now that I have your blessing!" Ethan gushed

 _"Blessing?"_

* * *

 _"I've grown rather accustomed to telepathy it makes a lot of things easier such as avoiding perverts. But even I need a break. Now I can finally go to bed without having dozens of thoughts flooding my brain."_ Lotus let out a grateful sigh. _"I can also finally take a test the normal way. No more flooding thoughts. Perfect because its midterms time!"_

"You have 50 minutes. No talking or messing around. I'll be watching the entire time. Start."

Everyone flipped over their test and the room was filled with the sound of pencils etching against paper.

 _"Alright."_

Underneath her desk Lotus turned the ring on her finger and instantly the thoughts of her classmates were silenced.

 _"Let's ace this test!"_

* * *

50 minutes later the test was over and it was time for the students next break. Students filtered out the room discussing the difficulty of the test.

Lotus smiled at her desk stretching her arms over her head as she twisted her ring back in place.

 _"I didn't understand a few but I think I did pretty well."_

Saiki sat next to the girl stoic as ever.

Kaidou slid up next to the two. "You don't look happy." He spoke addressing Saiki.

 _"Oh, Kaidou."_

"I don't wanna brag or anything but I totally aced it," Kaidou said

"Mad respect bro," Hairo said as he appeared

"Thank you. Did you do okay Hairo?" Kaidou asked

"If I didn't fail I'd be shocked. My fault though I didn't study," Hairo said

 _"Just a hunch but I bet his scores beat Hairo's."_

"What about you Lotus?" Hairo asked

"I'm feeling pretty good about this one. Some of the stuff on the test was something that I learned at one of my previous schools," Lotus said

"Whoa, how lucky," Hairo said

"You guys are not alone. I didn't study for that stupid test either," Nendou spoke joining the conversation.

 _"Shocker."_

"I'm not surprised," Kaidou said

Nendou laughed, "You take this stuff too seriously man."

The classroom door slid open and the teacher stood in the threshold of the doorway.

"Nendou listen up. Flunk three more tests and the school will be dragging you down a grade."

"Dragging him down!"

Nendou blankly stared at the teacher as if he didn't fully comprehend what he just said.

Kaidou placed a hand on Nendou's shoulder. "Don't worry. You won't have to treat us like your upperclassmen. We'll spare you the shame."

"No, wait! There's still time to improve your grades!" Hairo shouted

 _"Yeah and pigs will fly,"_ Saiki said

"We'll save you Nendou!" Hairo said

"Hey….what does he mean by dragon down?" Nendou said

 _"I rest my case."_

Lotus sweatdropped, _"He really doesn't understand what's going on."_

"Oooh, the test thing, right? Nah, don't worry about that." Nendou said

"Nendou, I'm part of the tutoring program. If you need help I can tutor you," Lotus offered

"Nah, I'm good," Nendou said

 ** _"No your not."_**

"Hey, don't brush off Warrior Queen Lotus like that when she offered you help that you so clearly need," Kaidou said

"Don't worry I've got a plan." Nendou pulled something of his pocket. "This."

He tossed a pencil on the table. The eraser end had been shaved off and several letters were written on the end. To put it in layman's term it was homemade dice.

Everyone stared at Nendou eyes blank faces vacant of any emotions.

"With this trick pencil I can't lose."

"He's toast." Everyone thought

* * *

The next period came which meant it was time for the next test. Lotus was having a bit of trouble concentrating simply because she kept glancing back at Nendou.

 _"He's seriously using that pencil."_

"Yes its, I!" Nendou said aloud

"Be quite Nendou!" The Teacher scolded

"Come on I...yes!"

 _"Wait...huh?!"_

Lotus glanced over her paper realizing the answers Nendou was getting from his dice pencil was correct. As she glanced back to look at Nendou her eyes passed over Saiki who appeared to be just as shocked as she was.

Lotus spun her ring. _"Saiki, am I losing my mind or is Nendou's pencil rolling getting him the right answers."_

 _"If you're going crazy then so am I."_

 ** _"The heck is going on?"_ **They thought together

Lotus and Saiki both looked over their shoulders to Nendou. Their eyes widened seeing a figure appear behind him.

 _"I get it now. Nendou's doing well because he's getting help...from his father's ghost."_

Nendou's father floated about the room peeking at various test getting the right answers.

 _"Ghost don't remember their lives how does he know Nendou's his son? Let alone give him help,"_ Saiki said

 _"You say that but then again there's my guardian spirit….."_

Lotus glanced to the side seeing Helios sitting on a windowsill with his legs in a crisscross position. When he saw Lotus looking his way the spirit smiled broadly and waved fervently like an excited child.

When the Nendou's father had the correct answer he floated over to Nendou waiting for the boy to roll his pencil dice. When Nendou rolled the dice his father's spirit moved it so it landed on the correct answer.

 _"I'm just gonna ignore the ghosts in the room and finish my test."_

* * *

When all the tests were done the rankings were posted outside the classrooms. Students flocked to see where they had placed amongst their peers.

Hairo and Kaidou gaped starting at the results.

"Out of 181 students, Nendou ranked 90th!"

"You're usually at the bottom. Explain," Kaidou demanded

"I just took it seriously," Nendou said

"You cheated admit it!" Kaidou said

"No you dork face! I used my B," Nendou smirked pointing to his head.

"I'm just assuming that means someone hit you on the head," Kaidou said

"Congrats Nendou! In my book beating 90 other students makes you a national hero!" Hairo said

 **Kineshi Hairo - 6th place**

"Don't patronize him," Kaidou said

"I'm not I'm just being nice," Hairo said

"My test scores don't equal prowess on the battle field," Kaidou said

 **Shun Kaidou - 51st place**

 _"~I studied all night!~"_ The depressing thoughts of Kaidou echoing.

"Hey nobody likes a sore loser," Nendou said

"I didn't lose to you 90 is a terrible sc-"

Kaidou stopped as all the guys look to Saiki.

 **Kusuo Saiki - 91st**

"Sorry."

 _"Don't be. This is the exact ranking I was aiming for. Mission accomplished."_

"That score isn't that bad," Kaidou said

"You did better than half the school," Hairo added

 _"Don't try to comfort me. I don't need it."_

"So how'd you do Lotus?" Hairo asked

Everyone looked to the scores posted searching for the girl's name. When they located her name they spotted the number 4 next to her name.

"Whoa 4th place!" Kaidou said

"Top 5. That's great Lotus!" Hairo laughed giving the girl a friendly slap on the back.

"Thanks, my parents always say get a good education and gain as much knowledge as you can, because it's the one thing no one can ever take from you," Lotus said

"What a great philosophy," Hairo said

"Well the big thing we learned today was that this trick pencil my Dad once had really does work," Nendou said

"Wait your Dad left behind that lucky pencil for you?" Hairo questioned

"Yup," Nendou said

 _"That answers a few questions but raises so many more. Even the most minute things with Nendou is confusing."_

 _"You said it."_

"How'd you score that high just by rolling a pencil? Do you have powers?" Kaidou said

"Probably," Nendou said like it was no big deal.

* * *

"Well Saiki we made it through midterms what should we do?"

 _"Go home."_

Lotus chuckled. "Come on Mr. Funny Man let's treat ourselves. Oh, I know you can come over to my house and you can try out this new recipe I've found."

 _"Using me as some kind of test subject huh?"_

"Yup! That's what friend do, try each others cooking and be brutally honest if it tastes like crap."

 _"Fine."_

"Great!"

Lotus hooked her arm with Saiki's and his breath hitched a tad but it went unnoticed by Lotus, although the girl herself had a happy small flush on her cheeks.

"Let's go!"

With arms intertwined the two psychic teleported away.


	35. Chuono's Second Act

_This is Lotus_

 _This is Saiki_

 ** _This is Lotus and Saiki_**

 _~Thoughts of others~_

* * *

 **Chouno's Second Act! - Can Magic Heal Relationships?**

Lotus smiled walking next to Saiki, the two pink-haired teens going down the streets of the shopping district. Lotus stated there was a store she wanted to stop by before she went home and Saiki was accompanying her. He did directly state that he was going with her, but he didn't deny it either.

Lotus smiled to herself thinking about how close she and Saiki had become.

 _"I've cracked the outer shell and have started to reach the core of Saiki. Although he hides it Saiki is really nice and kind."_

Lotus's thoughts started to drift deeper the main topic being Saiki and her cheeks started to flush.

She was finally taken out of her little daydream when someone else's thoughts entered her head.

 _"~So that's that. Down the drain my life goes.~"_

 _"What a pain. Other's thoughts are so exhausting. This guys' got it pretty bad."_

 _"Doesn't that voice sound kind of familiar though?"_

 _"Yeah, I swear I've heard it before."_

Lotus and Saiki took a turn stopping when they saw the magician Chouno. He looked like a mess and was sitting on the side of the road, several empty bottles next to him another one in his hand the contents pouring out onto the ground.

 _"Nope. False alarm. Let's go Lotus."_

Before either teen could make an escape Chouno spotted them.

"Master! Is that you?! Miss Assistant too!"

 _"Wrong guys!"_

 _"Also the title Miss Assistant sounds a bit demeaning."_

Chouno sprung up chasing after Saiki and Lotus, crawling on all fours at a rather impressive speed.

"It's a miracle! Oh, Master! I've never needed your help and wisdom more than right now!"

Chouno caught Saiki, throwing himself on the boy wrapping his arms around the teen entrapping him.

 _"I said wrong guys!"_

"Master!" Chouno got on his hands and knees in front of Saiki and Lotus. "I beg of you. Can you please lend me your Assistant for my next stage act?"

 _"You can't have Lotus."_

 ***DOKI***

Lotus let out a soft silent gasp. She tentatively put a hand over her heart, due to the fact it had jumped a bit.

 _"Wha...What was that?"_

"Please, Master I need an assistant for my next act!" Chouno begged

* * *

The location where the performance was being held was a little place called trick. A fitting name for a theater where magic was performed.

"Now ladies and gentlemen, our next performer has been on TV. The illusionists you've all been waiting for! Chouno!"

A spotlight beamed over the stage and Chouno appeared.

"Tres Bien!"

The crowd went wild clapping and cheering.

"What an applause!"

Behind the magician were two figures one female and one male.

 _"Whoa they're going wild, has he always been this popular?"_

 _"Yeah, how is he more popular than ever? His acting is just as terrible as I remember but the real question is how did I get roped into this?"_

 **4 hours ago**

"You see I have a show booked tonight, but my regular assistant Micheal got in an accident." Chouno sad

"Oh my god is he okay?!" Lotus said

 _"Did he die?"_ Saiki questioned

"Fortunately he didn't die in said accident, but he did say he couldn't do today's show. I asked anyone I could think of to be my assistant, but they all told me no. When I needed them the most my friends vanished into thin air. It feels like a really bad illusion," Chouno told them with a few tears on the edge of his eyes.

 _"That's sad I guess."_

 _"That is sad. What kind of friends does he have?"_

"I was so desperate I even asked my mom. But it wound up looking really terrible." Chouno said

 _"Don't say that about your mom."_

"Please Master!" Chouno once again dropped onto his hands and knees begging. "Can you help me out just for tonight's show?"

 _"Sorry, I'm busy,"_ Saiki stated turning and walking away.

As he passed by Lotus he grabbed the girl's wrist pulling her along. Lotus was taken aback by Saiki's sudden physical contact. Normally it was she that initiated contact with Saiki, not the other way around.

"Please Master wait! This is the biggest show of my life. My love! My darling wife who left me is coming to see it. This is my last best chance to win back her love." Chouno started to sniffle looking to the ground.

When he looked back up he saw that Saiki hadn't stopped walking.

"You're already that far?!"

 _"Because you're annoying."_

Chouno chased after Saiki. "You aren't even slowing down are you? You're unbelievable!"

 _"Also when you referred to her as your darling wife I cringed."_

"How could you ignore someone in need of help. Please see this before you go."

* * *

Chouno led the teens to a small hut or shed where the two assumed Chouno was living out of. In the middle of the room was a large box with a cartoonish body painted on top.

"This is the classical body cutting trick. I put all of my savings into this box. A new one would cost 1.2 million yen. But I couldn't afford that, so I bought this used one for 1.18 million yen." Chouno said

 _"You should've bought it new."_

Lotus gaped looking at the box. _"It cost how much!? That's 18508.30 USD or 16920.94 EURO. But no matter the country that's a lot of money!"_

 _"How are you so good at currency calculations?"_ Saiki questioned

 _"From when I was traveling with my parents for their work. Once I learned the proper equations I learned how to do the currency exchange in my head, pretty useful skill if you travel. My mother also taught me how to barter using objects instead of cash, I once saw her trade a goat for a pickaxe and some gasoline."_

Chouno looked to the teens speaking again getting the conversation back on topic.

"This box came with no instruction book! Micheal and I tried doing the trick dozens of different ways but couldn't get it right."

 _ **"Was that his accident?"**_

"Fortunately he only needed a couple of stitches from that. No, the real problem came two days after that when a motorcycle hit him dead on throwing him 30 meters." Chouno said

 ** _"Holy crap!"_**

"Point is I still don't know how to do this trick, and now that the worlds abandoned me I have no choice but to figure out how to do the trick." Chouno

Using his ability to see through things Saiki scanned the box.

 _"There's nothing much to figure out here. There are no moving pieces or hidden compartments just partitions. It's a box."_

 _"I feel kind of bad, the man got gypped."_

A loud revving sounded in the room as Chouno pulled out a chainsaw.

"I'm thinking of using this chainsaw in the show then picking a random assistant from the audience."

 _"No! No! No! No! No! No!"_

 _"Nooooooo!"_

* * *

So that's how both Lotus and Saiki found themselves as Chouno assistants. Saiki was here so Chouno wouldn't accidentally murder someone live on stage and Lotus was there to lessen Saiki's suffering, like the good friend she was.

Lotus donned the same outfit she wore that Ethan had created for her during her first performance with Chouno. Ethan was also kind enough to create an outfit for Saiki as well. Saiki wore a white button-down shirt with a purple vest over it paired with a green tie. To finish off the outfit Saiki had a purple mask with green lenses like his glasses.

Both teens noticed how their outfits matched but neither commented on it.

Chouno's eyes darted across the crowd searching for his special lady. _"~Midori, where are you? No. That's not her. Definitely not.~"_

 _"What does his ex-wife even look like?"_

Lotus and Saiki each rolled out two large red boxes onto the stage.

 _"~I have to focus on my performance. Besides my Master is helping and I have to impress him too!"_

"And now for my next trick. I'll transport my assistant Saichael from this box here over to this box here on the other side of the stage." Chouno announced

 ** _"Saichael?"_**

"I'll have the lovely Miss Mystery lock the box to keep Saichael in and everyone else out." Chouno looked to Saiki. "Alright crawl inside."

 _"Okay but I still don't know how this works."_

 _"Is he expecting Saiki to automatically know what to do?"_

Saiki crawled into the box crouching down, so he could fit.

"Alright, when I say so pop out of the other box okay? Good!" Chouno whispered

 _"No, it's not."_

"Alright, Miss Mystery lock that box! Music please!"

Lotus gave an awkward chuckle watching Chouno dance around the stage waving his hands over the boxes performing his "magic".

 _"He's a better showman than a magician."_

 _"Seriously? He didn't even explain it. How am I supposed to get to one box from another when-"_

The floor beneath Saiki dropped depositing him in a small tunnel that led to the other box.

 _"-well that answers that. Secret passage tunnel. I gotta hand it to him this a pretty involved trick."_

Saiki crawled to the other box to the trapdoor. He grabbed the handle on it trying to pull it open but it wouldn't budge.

 _"And it won't open I'm not surprised."_

"Now let's open the box! It's tres bien time!"

Chouno lifted the top off the box and the walls fell away relieving it to be empty.

 _"Fine."_

Saiki all but sighed teleporting into his spot.

The crowd gasped before cheering and clapping.

"He appeared out of nowhere!"

"Whoa, how'd he do that!"

 _"~Master came through for me but how?~"_

"Tres bien right!" Chouno cheered

The door to the back of the theater started to open grabbing Chouno's attention.

 _"~Is that her? Did she come?~"_

The group on stage was surprised to see who walked in because it wasn't Chouno's ex-wife but the one and only Nendou.

 _"Nendou? What are you doing here?"_

 _"Does he have some kind of Saiki tracking device implanted on him?"_

"She's here." Chouno started to cry, streams of tears going down his cheeks. "She's here. You came back. She came back to me. Midori."

Lotus and Saiki froze trying to compute Chouno's words with dumbstruck looks on their faces.

 _"Huh?"_

 _"Eh?"_

* * *

Lotus was still confused up until the group went backstage. In the green room, Chouno explained to her and Saiki why this performance was so important. To put it short he worked a dead-end job but was able to get through it when he met the love of his life, but then shortly after he got fired. They fell on hard times with Chouno experiencing a depressing spiral downwards which caused his wife to leave taking her kid with her.

"It's important she sees what I accomplished in the last two years. That's the reason why today's performance means so much to me!" Chouno exclaimed

 _"Yeah I get all that but in the end this Midori person didn't even show up."_

"Whoa cool knife."

Nendou was in the green room as well messing with some of Chouno's props.

 _"All he got was this idiot."_

"No, no, Riki that's not a toy." A guff yet slight feminine voice spoke.

Once again Saiki and Lotus were thrown into a state of shocked confusion.

 _"This can't be real."_

A woman entered the room looking exactly like Nendou. The only key differences between the two was that woman had curly black hair, two scars going down her eyes, as opposed to Nendou's one scar, and she was wearing red lipstick.

 _"Nendou's multiplying."_

"Midori it's so nice to see you again!" Chouno shouted

"It has been a while," Midori said

 _"They even sound the same."_

 _"She's nothing like his memory!"_

"Master, Miss Assistant, let me introduce her to you. This is my wife Midori," Chouno introduced

"Ex-wife that is." Midori corrected

 _"These plot twists are giving me whiplash."_

Lotus turned to Nendou. "Nendou that's your mother?!"

"Yup," Nendou smiled nodding his head.

"Nendou! There's no way she's your Mom! She's your sister, right? You're just messing with us, right? She's really your older sister right?" Lotus said with a bit of panic in her voice.

"Nah, that's my Mom," Nendou said

Midori chuckled patting Lotus on the head. "Oh my, she thinks I'm young enough to be Riki's sister, what a charming young lady. But I am indeed Nendou's mother."

The resemblance between Nendou and his mother was unnerving to Lotus. She could accept that Nendou looked like his father. She could accept that Nendou looked like his mother. But she could not process the fact that all three of them looked almost identical.

Lotus grabbed onto Saiki's sleeve. _"Saiki, I'm a bit scared."_

 _"I wish the writer would stop making things up on the fly."_

"Hey you two look kinda familiar," Nendou spoke walking over to Saiki and Lotus.

 _"Oh no."_

Nendou studied the two psychics, "Nah, the glasses and hair are all wrong." He spoke referring to Saiki's mask and Lotus's wig. "For a second there I thought you were Saiki my best buddy from school, and I thought you were Lotus my best girl buddy."

 _"Wait, I just called him Nendou like three seconds ago. How could he not know it's me? Also still calling me girl buddy huh?"_

 _"He's so reliably stupid. Well, that's my cue to leave."_

Saiki tried to walk away but he was stopped by both Lotus and Chouno.

"Whoa don't go anywhere yet Saichael we still have the rest half of the show," Chouno said

 _"Remember Saiki, if we leave Chouno alone he'll chainsaw someone in half."_

 _"Just my luck."_

Chouno looked to Midori. "My sweet will you watch the rest of my performance tonight? Then give me a second chance?"

 _"This is unfathomably weird."_

 _"I'm so confused, I feel like at this point I should just shut my brain off and let my body go on autopilot."_

Midori put a hand on her chin appearing torn about what she should do.

"Well, it is a bit of a drive for me and Riki so the least we could do is watch your show. But don't expect anything more from me than that. It feels like our relationship ran its course a long time ago." Midori said

 _"Why do you and Nendou have the same face?"_

 _"It's so weird seeing Nendou's face speak so eloquently."_

Midori and Nendou exit the room leaving behind two confused teenagers and a determined magician.

"Master. Miss Assistant-"

 _"That nickname still seems demeaning."_

"-let's get the box ready."

* * *

Chouno took center stage as Saiki wheeled out the box, Lotus sat atop the box waving at the crowd.

 _"And now I've been reduced to a prop, how lovely."_

"Get ready for my all new body-cutting trick!" Chouno announced to the crowd. "My lovely assistant Saichael will get inside the box. I will then separate the box into parts with the chainsaw then I will move the parts before I put them back together."

 _"If you explain the whole trick before you do it where's the surprise?"_

Chouno opened the segmented doors of the box before Saiki stepped in.

"Do you think it'll work?"

"There's gotta be a trick to it."

 _"There isn't. It's just a box. I'd be worried if I wasn't a psychic. I thought of 13 ways to avoid getting injured."_

Lotus had offered to be the one to get in the box but since her control over her powers were not on the same level as Saiki's it was smarter for him to go in to avoid the chance of injury, at least that's what Saiki told Lotus.

 _"First I'll bend the blade as it cuts into the box. Then right before he pulls it out I'll turn back time just on the blade. Then when he moves around the boxes I'll use my super flexibility."_

 _"Guess Saiki was the best choice to put in the box. I only know how to do one of those three things he just mentioned."_

"Ready Saichael? Let's go!" Chouno said

"Hold on!"

"Huh?"

Standing up in the middle of the crowd holding up his hand was Nendou.

"I wanna be your magician helper and get inside the box! Try to cut me up with whatever, I'll be fine!"

"Riki...well...but…" Chouno stuttered

 _"You idiot. Sit down."_

 _"That idiot! Why does he want to get cut up?!"_

"That's enough Riki." Midori stood up. "Let's go home."

"Uh….No! Midori don't go!"

So in order to stop Midori from walking out of the show Chouno had to put Nendou in the box.

Lotus was pale staring at the goofy smile of Nendou while he was in the box.

 _"He's going to die….I'm about to watch Nendou die."_

 _"What's he gonna do now? With Nendou in the box he's going to send the audience home screaming."_

 _"~It'll be okay the blade won't touch Riki. I'm sure the gimmick will trigger somehow! The love of my life is watching! Don't kill her son!~"_

Lotus went even paler as the chainsaw got closer, she looked like she was about to faint.

"Hit me with that chainsaw bro!" Nendou said

Chouno stopped gasping and he dropped the chainsaw. "I'm sorry I can't go through with this trick."

"Oh thank god!" Lotus sighed putting a hand over her heart.

"I violated the code of stage magic. I wanted this trick to be a hit so badly that I brought it out even though I hadn't figured out how to do it safely. Sorry."

* * *

The entire theater was a mess including Chouno himself. After his admission, the crowd turned into a mob, Chouno only getting away with minor injuries thanks to Lotus and Saiki.

"I knew they'd be made but not that mad." Chouno lamented

 _"They full-on rioted."_

 _"I think I saw a man throw a chair, those things are bolted to the ground."_

 _"But you made the right decision. I can usually find a ton of ways out but this time I could only figure out 4 ways to save Nendou."_

 _"It's a good thing you were here Saiki. I just stood there about to pass out. The only thing I could think of was to drop kick the chainsaw out of Chouno's hand. I guess there's really no need to worry if I got you around huh?"_

 ***DOKI***

Saiki turned away from Lotus's smile causing the girl to blink confusedly. For a guy with a crush a girl's bright smile is a deadly weapon.

"What will I do now?" Chouno cried

Something was thrown at Chouno's feet stopping his sobs.

"Huh?"

He looked to see it was a cash card along with a checkbook.

"Hey, my old bank account."

"It'd gotten lost in my stuff," Midori said

 _"Holy crap! When did she get in here?!"_

"I never spent one cent from it," Midori stated with a kind smile.

"Midori I thought you left!" Chouno said

"Well, that was a really bad show. You got the crowd all excited then didn't deliver the goods. Is it any wonder that they rioted? No worry when you got that trick down I'll come to see it again. " Midori said

Chouno eyes started to water. "Thanks for my bank account. I promise I'll do it right next time. With this I now have the money to buy a new 1.2 million yen body cutting box-"

 _"~1.2 million?~"_

Chouno was cut off when Midori kicked him right in the solar plexus.

"On the second thought give that back loser!"

Lotus flinched, _"Now I see even more of Nendou in her. Saiki, I'm scared again."_


End file.
